Rise Up Once More
by CrimsonStarbird
Summary: Changeling's 30 minutes have elapsed. What began as a harmless prank is now their reality. Under attack from Phantom Lord, and with its strongest members body-swapped and virtually powerless, what price must be paid before Fairy Tail can rise up once more? COMPLETE.
1. A Disgrace of a Guild

_**A/N:** Hello! This is my first story for Fairy Tail. It follows on from anime episode 19 'Changeling', shortly after the return from Galuna Island, though it should be pretty self-explanatory. I'll write a bit more about it at the end, so, without further ado, I hope you enjoy it! ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

by CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter One: A Disgrace of a Guild**

Returning to Magnolia was always a bittersweet experience for Laxus.

It was sweet because Magnolia was, and always would be, his home. It was where he had been born and raised, and all the travelling in the world could not erase the memories tying him to this place: training in the guildhall with his teammates; shopping in the marketplace with his grandfather; taking part in the highlight of the season, the Fantasia Parade. It was the place to which, after a long and arduous S-Class Quest had dragged him to the ends of the earth and back, he could always return and feel safe. It was the home of his beloved guild, Fairy Tail.

But such homecomings were always a bitter experience too, for Magnolia was the home of the guild he detested, Fairy Tail.

Every time he returned, he held afresh in his heart the hope that Fairy Tail might have changed; time and time again, that hope had been mercilessly crushed. He had come to understand that Fairy Tail was never going to change of its own accord – not while that old man still held the title of Master. Laxus couldn't bring himself to leave Fairy Tail, but neither could he bear to see it carry on like this. And so each time he left, he travelled further from Magnolia and for longer, and every time he returned to this bittersweet place, he grew a little less fond of it, and a little more hateful.

It was only a matter of time before he changed all that, though. His plan had already been set in motion. Freed was studying in the ancient libraries of the north, putting the final touches to the spell of runes that would change Fairy Tail once and for all. Evergreen and Bickslow were training – rather, killing time – by fighting the pathetic Dark Guilds that had sprung up in the less-populated areas. Soon, they too would return to Magnolia, and Laxus would finally be able to take his rightful place as Master of-

Of this absolute _disgrace_ of a guild.

Laxus had rounded the final corner lost in vicious thoughts, and the sight of his guildhall had frozen him in his tracks. For a moment, he could do nothing but stare at what had once been the grandest building in all of Magnolia. It was a mess of torn-down walls, collapsed roofs, shattered furniture, and heaps of rubble. The bits of it that were still standing only did so because of the enormous iron bars which pierced through the guildhall, preventing it from crumbling away completely. The ruins of Fairy Tail were completely silent, devoid of the life and raucous spirit which had – not for all the right reasons – set it apart from the other guilds. At long last, the guild's exterior matched what, to Laxus, Fairy Tail had increasingly been becoming at heart: tumultuous, pathetic, undisciplined, self-destructive; in other words, a disgrace.

The expression of surprise on his face became his usual sneer. "Is _this_ why the old man called me back? Because some other guild thought they'd use ours to practice their home renovation skills on, and he wasn't capable of stopping them? If he's going to be such a pathetic Master, he should just retire already…"

Laxus could sense the faint magical presences of his fellow guild members in the basement below the ruins of the building, so he began to force his way through the rubble in search of any intact stairs. He hadn't really intended to come back, just because the old man had begged him to. The Master had told him that Fairy Tail was in trouble, and that it needed its strongest members back immediately. Laxus had laughed in his face; when the old man had tried to order him to return, Laxus had become so angry that he had accidentally broken the communication lacrima. That should have been the end of it, but Laxus hadn't finished giving the old man a piece of his mind just yet. There were some things that could only be said face to face; some sentiments that could only be conveyed in person.

Was he also a little bit worried? If so, it was only because the request, and the way it was delivered, was unusually out of character for his grandfather. Concern, he told himself, was low on his list of priorities.

He could hear them now, the other guild members, their voices rising up to him from the stairwell and conveying the usual sense of the chaos that ruled Fairy Tail in his absence. There was something else too – a rush of magic power, sudden and overwhelming, dark and intense. Uncontrolled magic like that, in the confined space of the basement? Maybe this time, the chaos really _was_ chaos.

Before Laxus knew it he was running, his coat flying out behind him, tearing down the stairs towards the source of the power. He recognized that magic. Emerging into the basement, his suspicions were confirmed: Mirajane, floating beneath one of her magic seals, screaming in true terror as violet lightning rained down all around her.

Mira. Laxus had respected her once, maybe even accepted her. But that had been back before the accident, which had rendered her almost completely unable to use magic. How could he still respect her, after she had let something like that destroy one of the strongest mages in Fairy Tail? And she seemed to have decided that here, in this half-destroyed basement, in close proximity to her fellow guild members and with no enemy in sight, was the best place to try her first Take Over in nearly two years. Try… and fail.

"Laxus!" someone shouted, having finally noticed his presence. It was the old man himself – backed into a corner, as far away from Mira as possible. His pathetic position was matched only by the relief in his voice.

Doubtless he would have said more, but it was hardly the appropriate time. Mira gave one final shriek. The enormous magic seal above her blazed once more and then vanished, leaving her floating a metre or so above the ground in full Satan Soul form. The eyes of everyone in the room were fixed on her silent form, waiting with bated breath.

She turned to look at Laxus with eyes utterly devoid of rationality. A smirk crossed her face; a twisted parody of the smile with which she would always welcome him home to the guildhall. It was a challenge. She – or whatever she had become – had acknowledged him as the greatest threat to her.

It was the only warning he got before she teleported the short space between them and aimed a blow towards his face. Fortunately, it was the only warning he needed.

As instinctively as breathing, Laxus slipped into his lightning form; an instant later he was well beyond her reach. She sensed him reform behind her, but her reactions were too slow. Her magic was unfamiliar, and out of control, whereas Laxus wasn't called the strongest in Fairy Tail for nothing. Before most people in the room had even worked out what was going on, he had gathered all his lightning magic in one strike and driven it straight into Mira's defenceless back.

In such a small battlefield, the effect was devastating. It was not in Laxus's nature to hold back when he was attacked without warning, even if his opponent was a fellow guild member. The explosion launched her into the wall with the force of a cannon. Cracks raced up and down the brickwork. For a moment she stayed there, static bursts crackling along her body, pressed into the indent in the wall, and then her Take Over wore off and she fell, unconscious, to the floor.

Cana was the first to react, dashing across to Mira with a horrified cry. It crossed Laxus's mind then that he might have gone a little too far. But that was what she got for not being able to control her magic. If he hadn't arrived in time, the consequences for the rest of the guild would have been much, much worse. Not that they realized that, the fools. At least half of them had taken up aggressive stances against him, some even readying magical attacks. Loke – of all people – was yelling a challenge at him, above the threats and curses filling the basement.

Master Makarov banged his staff against the table and called out for silence; with great reluctance, the furious rabble quietened. Laxus ignored them all. He strode towards his grandfather, demanding, "Is _this_ why you called me back here, old man? Can't you even keep your own guild under control?" Sparks sizzled through the air around him. "You are a disgrace of a Master, presiding over a disgrace of a guild!"

"Umm…" was the Master's only response. He looked to the others for support, swallowed nervously, and gave Laxus an apologetic smile. "Actually, the Master's over there," he added, pointing to Mira's unconscious body.

"What?" Then understanding came to Laxus, and he repeated, " _What?_ You're telling me you finally resigned and chose a new Master, and _it wasn't me?_ "

"No, no!" Makarov shook his head emphatically. "Makarov is still our Guild Master. But he's over there. I'm Mira."

"…What?"

Laxus glanced around the basement and saw the true chaos of Fairy Tail for the first time: Loke, challenging him to a fight; Natsu, watching Lucy nervously from behind a barrel; Lucy, trying to pull her shirt off over her head; Gray, flapping his arms wildly in a hopeless attempt to stop her; Erza, wearing a swimsuit; Happy, repeatedly hitting his head against a wall; Elfman, lying comatose next to a tankard of beer; Cana, crouched next to Mira; Mira, the Master of Fairy Tail; Makarov, who had been acting not at all like himself…

And Laxus said, "Someone had better tell me what the hell is going on here."

* * *

[The Previous Day]

"Well," chirped Happy. "It could be worse."

No fewer than nine people rounded on him furiously. "How could it _possibly_ be any worse?"

Happy thought about it. "Well, I could have swapped with you, Natsu."

"What are you trying to say?" roared Natsu.

"Please calm down," Mira interjected. "Now is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves. I'm sure, if we put our heads together, that we can find a way out of this."

No one was listening. Fairy Tail was in what could politely be described as a state of panic. To any outside observer, the reason for this was not immediately obvious. Only those who had been directly affected knew the truth that couldn't be seen: the strongest members of Fairy Tail had swapped bodies.

Mira was stood on the table trying to attract attention. Trapped in Makarov's small body, it was the only way she could get people to notice her. The Master stood next to her as 'Mira', too busy examining his dress to be of much use. Not that it would have done any good. Chaos, indignation, and pandemonium held the floor.

Nor were they the only ones affected. Gray and Lucy were engaged in some sort of bizarre wrestling match on the floor: Gray's stripping habit was engaged in a battle with his new breasts, while Lucy desperately tried to stop him taking his top off to protect the modesty of what had been, up until half an hour ago, her body. God only knew where her own shirt had gone – Gray had probably already jettisoned it before she had ended up in his body, and she had been a bit too preoccupied since then to look for it.

Natsu wasn't helping either, having seen what he perceived to be a fight and jumped in eagerly, regardless of the fact that he was 'Loke'. On the other hand, switching bodies with Natsu hadn't cured Loke of his irrational fear of Lucy; he had scarpered from the guildhall shortly after it happened. Cana and Elfman had also switched; the former had discovered that Elfman's body wasn't nearly as well-adapted to alcohol consumption as hers was, and promptly passed out. For his part, Elfman was put out that he was no longer a Man, but was trying ineffectually to help his sister restore order. Jet and Droy had been swapped too, but as usual, no one was paying them any attention. Happy was trying to stop Natsu, Gray and Lucy from fighting, but he was far larger than he was used to being, and was only getting in the way and making things worse.

As one of the more mature members of the guild, Erza had managed initially to stay calm. Then Happy had tried Requipping, and had switched from Erza's comforting armour to a skimpy swimsuit, and she had lost it. Now she stood in a corner, one blue paw resting against the wall, shaking and mumbling something unintelligible to herself. A cloud of depression hung in the air around her.

Erza murmured, "How did this happen?"

Happy, ever the helpful one, disentangled himself from the brawlers for long enough to explain things to Erza. "It started with that creepy request, remember, Erza? It had all that weird writing on it, and then Natsu read it out, and now I get to be you! Isn't Requip magic fun?"

"It is not _fun_ ," growled Erza. "And that's not what I meant. Master!"

She span around, pointing one accusing paw at who she thought was the Master. "I'm Mira," Mira corrected her, raising a hand apologetically.

"Sorry. Master!" Erza turned her furious gaze upon the real Makarov. "What was such a dangerous request doing on the notice board? What were you thinking?"

"I, umm, uhh," stammered the Master.

"You _did_ know what it was, right? That request was clearly full of sinister magic! How could you put it up in a place where anyone might have read it out like that?"

"You were the ones stupid enough to look at something so obviously evil!" Makarov harrumphed, folding his arms.

" _I_ didn't, it was-" Erza suddenly frowned. Her voice – Happy's voice – couldn't really do severe, but the dangerous look in her eyes more than made up for it. "It was Natsu who read it out – as you well know, Master! No one else triggered the Changeling curse, even though the request might have been on that board for days while we were away on Galuna Island. The only person in the guild who would do something as blatantly stupid as study that evil request is Natsu-"

"Hey!" Natsu interrupted.

"-is _Natsu_ , which is why you deliberately put that request there, knowing he would read it, as punishment for his team doing an S-Class Quest without permission!"

Makarov swallowed. "Umm…"

"Ehhhh?" yelled Natsu.

"Is that true, Master?" inquired Mira. "It seems a little harsh…"

"The Changeling magic is supposed to wear off after thirty minutes," grunted Makarov. "I didn't know you were going to get Levy to start messing around with it!"

Levy, the only person in the room who hadn't been hit by the Changeling curse, was on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry, everyone! I'm sorry… this is my fault…"

"Don't be mean to Levy!" Lucy would stand up for her friend, even if it was against the Master. "She worked so hard for all of us! Don't try and push the blame onto her!"

"But if I hadn't tried to undo it, the magic wouldn't have become permanent," Levy sniffed. "And Mira and Cana and everyone wouldn't have been dragged into this mess, and Fairy Tail wouldn't be in so much trouble…"

"What are you saying about Fairy Tail?" Natsu demanded.

Levy flinched back. "Loke- no, Natsu-"

"Huh?"

"Well, you know… since everyone has swapped magic, and it's all reset to really basic levels since everyone was only proficient with their own type of magic… most of us won't be able to take on jobs any more, and doesn't that mean… that the Magic Council will force Fairy Tail to disband?"

Silence followed Levy's tearful revelation. All the members of Fairy Tail looked at each other, hoping someone would come up with a solution; some way that they would be able to keep Fairy Tail together through the times to come.

"Don't be ridiculous," someone said shortly. It took them a moment or two to work out that the speaker was Natsu. He had climbed onto a table, and was staring them all down with a dragon's ferocity. No one had ever seen Loke do an impassioned speech before; no one, looking at Natsu standing up there defiantly in Loke's body, could confuse the two of them even for a moment. "Fairy Tail, disbanded? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Something as little as this isn't enough to stop us! It doesn't matter if we swap bodies, or magic, or have to retrain from the beginning! It's far too early to give up! And have you already forgotten? We're Fairy Tail, the strongest guild in Fiore! We'll find a way to break this Changeling curse!"

"But how?" Erza demanded.

"Uhh…"

"The library," murmured Levy.

"Eh?"

Levy raised her tear-streaked face proudly. "I'll go to the library. If there's any record of Changeling magic, I'll find it. This is my fault, so I won't rest until I've found a cure. I'll get you all back to normal… I promise."

Grinning down at her, Natsu said, "Thanks, Levy!"

"It might be worth sending a messenger to Porlyuscia in the East Forest," mused Makarov. "She's good with this sort of thing. And someone find Mystogan – if anyone in the guild knows something about such obscure magic, it'll be him."

"I'll try to get in touch with Laxus," Mira added. "If we could get him and even the Raijinshuu back to Fairy Tail, they'll be able to take on high-profile jobs and cover for us so the Magic Council won't suspect anything is wrong."

"Laxus…" murmured Makarov, with a frown that didn't suit Mira's beautiful face at all.

"You don't think he'll come?" Mira asked him anxiously.

Makarov turned away, affecting disinterest. "Who can tell, with that boy?"

"Of course he will!" interrupted Natsu. "He's still one of us, and the future of Fairy Tail is at stake here. Besides, he has to come back so that I can beat him and prove that I'm the strongest in Fairy Tail!"

"Yeah, because he's really going to struggle to defeat you right now, isn't he, 'Loke'?" growled Gray.

"Shut up!" yelled Natsu, and the guildhall returned to chaos. Peace in Fairy Tail was only ever temporary.

While the others fought, Mira gently touched Makarov on the arm. "I'll talk to Laxus. Don't worry – I'll use all my charm to convince him to return," she added with a wink.

"Don't go flirting with my grandson while you look like me!" warned Makarov, only causing Mira to laugh.

Meanwhile, Levy was busy assembling Team Shadow Gear with renewed determination. "Jet, Droy – you'll come with me to the library, right? You two were also switched by Changeling, weren't you?"

"We can cope with it for now," said Jet, as Droy.

"We'll be there to support you, Levy!" said Droy, as Jet.

"I'll come too!" someone else piped up.

"Thanks… Lucy, right?" Levy guessed, blinking up at Gray's half-naked body. Lucy gave her a thumbs-up, prompting Levy to break out into a nervous laugh. "I'll have to undo the magic as quickly as possible, because this name thing is getting really confusing."

"I'll join you." Gray glanced away. "I'd rather not just sit around here, waiting for someone to save me."

"Yeah, and me!" added Natsu. "Happy? Erza? Let's get Fairy Tail's strongest team out there to support Team Shadow Gear!"

"Aye!"

"I'd rather not go outside looking like this…" was Erza's despondent response.

"The more we help, the faster we'll be able to undo the spell, right?" Lucy tried to encourage her. Seeing Erza so down was disturbing. "And wouldn't you rather be with us than sat alone at home?"

"…Alright. But you-" here she pointed one defiant paw at Happy "-have got to pretend to be me. So don't Requip while in town… or talk to any strangers… or, in fact, say anything at all. Got that?"

"Aye!" chirped Happy again, who probably hadn't been listening. But it did cheer Erza up a little, and so the eight of them hit the road. It was different to any mission they had done before, and they were significantly less enthusiastic about it than their usual jobs, but the two Fairy Tail teams had a task, and they were resolved to see it through to its end.

* * *

"By this eternal swapping, may you be forever happy."

Even in a whisper, Levy's voice carried throughout the dusty archives. They had spent so many hours in the cloying atmosphere of the library that even she no longer cared for its hallowed law of silence. As the time had passed and the frustration had mounted, they were all desperate for something – anything – to break the monotony and restore a fragment of their withered hope.

"Found something, Levy?" Lucy asked. But after so many false alarms, even she was having to force the lightness into her voice.

"That one line. It's everywhere. Every time there's a mention of Changeling, that's all it says. _By this eternal swapping, may you be forever happy_."

"What does it mean?"

"It's the Changeling spell, translated. It's safe to read out, as long as it's not in its original language. That's probably why most books that refer to it quote that translation rather than the actual text. I'm sure it's a clue, but…"

"A clue, which tells us the swapping will be permanent? That's all we've got?" Natsu's complaint was muffled by the fact that he was lying on his front on the desk, his face planted firmly into the wood.

"And 'forever happy'? What kind of a joke is that?" demanded Gray, of no one in particular. "I _liked_ being a man. Now, when I walk into the men's bathroom I get yelled at, but in the women's one, I just feel like a pervert."

Happy spoke up, innocently, "This coming from the guy who thinks it's normal to walk around in his underwear."

"Hey, you-"

"This is a library!" bellowed a newcomer, with enough force to make the others fall silent immediately. "If you want to chat, you can do it outside!" The large woman folded her arms and glowered at Levy. "I thought better of _you_ , Levy. Bringing your loutish friends in here like this; I thought you respected the library!"

"Uh, they were just leaving," replied Levy, with a smile. When Lucy and the others looked at her uncertainly, she gave them a little push in the direction of the exit. "Go on. It's okay. You should go and report back to the guild – see if anyone else has had any more luck."

"What about you?" Lucy queried.

"I'm going to stay a little longer. There are still a couple more things I want to check out. I'll probably head straight home afterwards, so don't worry if you don't see me – I'll report in to the guildhall first thing tomorrow morning."

"Will you be alright?"

Levy laughed. "It won't be the first time I've left the library late, that's for sure! Besides, I wasn't hit by Changeling – I'm the last person you should be worrying about. I can look after myself, and Jet and Droy will stay with me. I'll meet you at the guild tomorrow, hopefully with some good news."

"Thanks, Levy," smiled Lucy. "Good luck."

"You too, Lucy, everyone."

With those words of parting, Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Erza and Happy left the library. An unusually sombre mood had fallen over the five of them, after an afternoon's worth of failures. Fairy Tail's strongest team had never known despair like this. None of them spoke, not even to marvel at the fresh air of the outside world after several hours of being stuck underground.

Erza was trailing behind the others, her feline gaze fixed firmly on the ground. Her depression had returned more strongly than before. While Lucy was sure she wasn't going to do anything stupid, it didn't stop her from casting repeated glances over her shoulder to check that Erza was still following them. She wanted to support the other girl, but didn't know what to say that wouldn't make things worse. 'It'll be okay'? That was impossible to say with any conviction, especially after this afternoon. Even Natsu, with his usually-indomitable spirit, would have struggled to convince Erza that he believed it.

She supposed, in a way, it was worse for Erza than for her. Lucy was certainly not impressed at having suddenly become a man, but it wasn't too hard to get used to, especially since she still thought and felt emotionally like herself. At least she was still a mage, even if at the best of times her control over Gray's Ice Make was a pale imitation of what he himself could achieve – and at the worst of times it was all she could do to stop ice cubes from pouring out of her mouth. More importantly, though, she was still _human_. Erza, the S-Class Mage, Titania of Fairy Tail, had become a talking cat.

It would have been a blow for anyone, but Erza… Erza was proud. She didn't like to show it, but deep inside, it was the truth. An army of powerful foes couldn't bring down Erza Scarlet, but this? This struck right at the heart of Erza's inner fragility. She needed help, and Lucy just had no idea how to help her. So Fairy Tail's strongest team walked on in silence.

It was a peaceful night; on any other day, this walk through the familiar streets of Magnolia would have been enjoyable. The sun was far beyond the horizon, leaving the sky a beautiful deep indigo, punctuated by the sharp staccato of distant stars. Closer to the ground, the night was lit by the homely amber-orange of magical lanterns. The atmosphere was quiet, but not silent. The footsteps of friendly strangers were never too far away, and the chatter of partygoers and the murmured easy-going conversations of those on their way home livened up the night. Between those ambient sounds and the gentle splashing of boats travelling along the canal, nightfall in their city was by no means a hostile time.

Apart from the sound of explosions.

At the first faint kaboom, Natsu stopped dead in his tracks, and Lucy promptly walked into him. Both of them fell to the ground with startled shouts as a second distant explosion rang out through the night.

Natsu exclaimed, "Hey, watch where you're going!"

"I'm sorry-" Lucy tried to apologize, but Gray overrode her.

"What are you shouting at Lucy for, huh?"

Natsu glanced from one of them to the other. "Obviously, I thought she was you, you clumsy idiot!"

"Who are you calling an idiot?"

It might have been amusing to watch 'Loke' and 'Lucy' go head to head like that for a change, were it not for a third explosion, this one far louder than the other two, tearing up what remained of the peaceful night. The ground seemed to shake with the force of it; there was the crunching sound of what might have been a landslide in the distance.

"That's coming from…" began Happy.

"…Fairy Tail!" Erza finished, suddenly alert again with the threat of danger. "Let's get back to the guildhall, now!"

Rivalries put aside, they ran – ran for their friends and for Fairy Tail.

They arrived at a scene of destruction. The guildhall had been utterly ruined, speared through by those huge metal lances. Even as they watched, another wall surrendered with a weary groan and collapsed into bricks and dust. Just like that, their home was gone. First, the guild had been driven to desperate measures by the Changeling accident, and now this. It was fortunate – for Natsu and Gray, who would otherwise have rushed off to certain death – that whoever had done this was long gone.

The sound of someone moving in the wreckage of the guildhall snapped them simultaneously out of their horror. "Hey!" Natsu called out. "Is anyone there? Can you hear me?"

"Help… I'm over here…"

The voice was weak, but it was one they all recognized: Macao. Erza took charge, a brief flash of steely determination returning to her eyes. "Natsu, Gr- no, Lucy! Get Macao out of the rubble and make sure he's alright. Happy, Gray – you're with me. We'll have to find the others!"

No one spared a thought for their own safety as they searched through the remains of their beloved guildhall. In the absence of magic power, teamwork and coordination were necessary to round up the survivors – to find them, to communicate and share their knowledge, and to locate someone strong enough to free anyone trapped. For the most part it was disordered chaos. The searchers were driven by desperation and haste, and only occasionally guided by Erza's shouts; urgency overrode any sense of patience, and Erza was struggling to make herself heard or see the big picture as a cat. Still, despite their disorganization, their sheer love for the guild members they were trying to save pushed them forwards.

Presently, Fairy Tail's strongest team was joined by Cana, Elfman, Mira, and Makarov, who had avoided the worst of the damage since they had been searching for ancient documents in the archive when the attack had hit. As they were able to free the less-fortunate members of their guild, the search team added to its ranks those who were still in possession of their original bodies and thus their magic power, and progress began in earnest.

With every person they found, injured but alive, the grip of despair around the heart of Fairy Tail began to loosen. For the first time since Changeling, they were beginning to dare to hope again – to pray that things might not yet be as bad as they could possibly get.

It might have taken them an hour, or perhaps it was only a few minutes. No one cared. The important thing was that all the members of Fairy Tail who had been in the guildhall when it was destroyed were present and accounted for in the basement. The damage only extended to the above-ground structures; the basement, and the archives below, had remained intact, and offered them a safe shelter.

While those with medical knowledge or healing equipment tended to the wounded, others ran about fetching what furniture remained whole from the ruins of the floor above and turning the storage area into a temporary base of operations. Not once did anyone complain about the lack of warmth, or proper lighting, or general facilities. Everyone in that room would have traded all those things in an instant in return for the miracle they had just received: that no one had been badly hurt when the building had collapsed.

The hour grew late, and still no one left. They wouldn't admit it, but everyone wanted to be with Fairy Tail right now – to be safe, amongst their family. When all the wounded had been tended to, and all the pressing concerns had been met, the guild members began to assemble silently before the Master. He stood in front of the counter of the makeshift bar, while Mira sat atop it, in Makarov's usual position. The others sat in the chairs and on the tables they had salvaged from the ruins of the guild above, and waited patiently for their Master to speak.

"Phantom Lord."

A murmur ran through the crowd, but nothing more.

"This is the handiwork of their strongest mage, Gajeel Redfox. Of that there can be no doubt. There's never been any love lost between that guild and ours, but I never thought they'd go this far. Attacking us in the night without provocation… it's unforgiveable."

"Let's get them!" someone in the crowd called out: Natsu. "We'll strike back when they're least expecting it! We'll make them pay for harming Fairy Tail!"

This declaration was met by fierce cheers. "Silence!" yelled Makarov. The sharp command was strange in Mira's gentle voice, but their Master's sentiment reached them through it, and they fell once more into subdued silence. "I know how you feel. Believe me, after today, no one wants to destroy their guild more than I. However! It is absolutely out of the question!"

"Whaaat?" Natsu's screech was echoed by many others in the hall.

This time, it took Makarov a full minute to restore order. "Listen to me, all of you! This is a serious matter. Inter-guild warfare is strictly forbidden by the Magic Council. We cannot simply go to war with Phantom Lord."

"They're the ones who've declared war on us!" Natsu fumed.

"We can't just sit by and take it!" Gray added his voice to the fight.

"We can, and we will," said Makarov firmly.

"Fairy Tail is in a very difficult position right now," Mira confirmed, in solidarity. People fell silent when she spoke because she did so with their Master's voice, but people _listened_ because she was their beloved Mira. "We've got enough to deal with without a war against a guild as powerful as Phantom Lord. As it is right now, one rash move could be the end of Fairy Tail. We're safe and we are together. Let's not risk that on something as petty as revenge."

"Not to mention the main reason why we can't afford to fight Phantom Lord at the moment." Erza's logic, Happy's voice. The S-Class Mage-turned-cat stood on the table, sky-blue arms folded. "The few of our strongest members who are actually in Magnolia right now have been rendered powerless by Changeling. We wouldn't even be able to beat Gajeel, let alone the Element 4. Not to mention, their Master Jose is one of the Ten Wizard Saints! If we attack Phantom Lord, _we will lose_. Mira and the Master are right."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Natsu again. "Just sit here and wait for them to come back and finish the job?"

Makarov responded as best he could. "We protect ourselves. We look after our own. If they come back, we'll defend Fairy Tail with everything we have."

Mira added, "First thing tomorrow, I'll dispatch a message to the Magic Council requesting assistance. Phantom Lord attacked another legal guild without provocation; the Council will _have_ to take our side on this, especially if we don't fight back or cause any trouble for them. If we're lucky, with their intervention, we might be able to settle this peacefully. If we're _really_ lucky, we might be able to get out of this without them discovering how badly we've been crippled by Changeling."

Grumbles of dissent rippled through the guildhall. "I don't like it," Natsu spat, putting into words the sentiment of most the people in the room. "They destroyed our guildhall! We can't let that slide!"

"Buildings can be rebuilt," came Makarov's restrained reply. Mira cast him a glance, but said nothing.

"What about all the people that bastard Gajeel hurt? Someone might have been seriously injured, or- or-"

"But no one was." Mira took over, placing one small, wrinkled hand on the Master's shoulder. "In a few weeks, we'll all be okay again. If we go to war with Phantom Lord, we won't have that guarantee. Things worse than this will happen."

"Since when has Fairy Tail backed down from a fight?"

"Since they encountered a fight they couldn't win, and decided protecting their family was more important than revenge," Mira countered.

There was an appreciable murmur at this. She and Natsu stared at each other. Theirs was a different kind of battle to the one Natsu sought with Phantom Lord; one that transcended actions and words and even the bodies of 'Loke' and 'Makarov' with which they conversed. This was Mira's earnest heart, trying to impress her feelings onto Natsu; trying to make him understand that the safety of the guild had to come first.

Natsu looked away, unable to meet her gaze any longer. "Fine. As long as they don't try anything else, I'll overlook this… for the time being."

"Thank you… Natsu."

The Dragon Slayer's concession was enough to placate the rest of the guild. No one was happy with the way things were, but they trusted Mira, and they trusted their Master. They could overcome even this provocative insult, provided they were together.

Even so, no one wanted to go home that night. Sleeping bags were procured from hidden corners, though most people knew the fear of a second attack would keep them awake all night. Cana opened a cask of ale for everyone's benefit, and slowly but surely a ghost of Fairy Tail's shattered spirit returned to the temporary hideout.

As the conversation began to turn to lighter topics, Mira pulled the Master to one side, out of the crowd. "Mystogan's on his way back," she informed him quietly. "But I got the impression he was quite far from Magnolia. If Phantom Lord strike again soon, we probably won't be able to rely on his help." She shook her head. "I couldn't get in touch with Gildarts, and knowing him, he's probably on another continent anyway. It has been three years, after all."

Makarov slowly nodded; he had expected as much. "What about Laxus?"

"I talked to him," came Mira's troubled response. "I don't think he's going to come. He was…"

"He was his usual self, I imagine. That attitude of his is exactly why I can't retire. He's just not ready to inherit the guild. I'm not convinced he ever will be."

"Of course, there might not be a guild left for him to inherit after this. Do you think Phantom Lord will come back?"

Makarov's eyes narrowed. "Let's just hope that the Magic Council will help us settle this peacefully, before anyone else gets hurt."

He glanced over a guild finally beginning to relax, and the look in his eyes softened. "Still, of all the times for Phantom Lord to attack us… I'm not sure how much more bad luck Fairy Tail can take. I suppose Happy was right earlier, when he said that things could have been worse. Turns out, they could have been – and now they are."

"And how about now? Are things as bad as they can possibly be?"

The Master didn't answer for a long time. "Come tomorrow morning, we'll know for sure."

* * *

"…And _that's_ your story?" It was hard to tell whether the incredulity in Laxus's voice was aimed at the curse of Changeling, or the attack by Phantom Lord, or their decision to interrupt his travels and call him back over it; knowing him, it was probably the latter. "That's why you're sat here like cowards in this ruin of a guildhall? Because you and the old man screwed up some ancient magic, and couldn't fight back when the guild was threatened?"

"No," Mira said sadly. "That's not the end of the story. Because, unfortunately, things still weren't as bad as they could possibly be. This morning, we were finalizing the wording of our report to the Magic Council when we heard the news. Levy and her team hadn't been back that night, because they had stayed in the library until it closed, and gone straight home after that. Since she wouldn't know about the destruction of the guildhall, Natsu and Lucy went to Levy's room in the dorms this morning to tell her, and see if she'd learnt anything else about Changeling. When no one answered the door, they went to the library, but no one there had seen them since they left the previous night. Only on their way back to the guild did they encounter Team Shadow Gear – stripped and beaten and tied up against a tree."

"That Phantom Lord bastard Gajeel ambushed them on their way back from the library," Natsu growled. "He beat them up and painted Phantom Lord's guild mark on them, and displayed them like a trophy!" There was a sharp crunch as the table leg he clutched in his hand splintered under the force.

"We took them to the hospital," Mira continued. "The doctors said they'll make a full recovery in time, but… they haven't woken up since. What were we supposed to do? This wasn't just the destruction of a building – it was a deliberate, malicious and unprovoked attack on a member of Fairy Tail. No peaceful resolution would be sufficient to placate our guild, so we called another meeting to decide the best course of action; the plan of attack… I suppose, in the end, I lost."

Mira's gaze flickered to her own, unconscious body, then she gathered her courage and pressed on. "Your grandfather was the worst affected by the attack. He was furious that someone had hurt one of his children, and refused to listen to reason. While we tried to come up with ways we could stand against Phantom Lord without any of our Changeling-afflicted members being put into a scenario where their lives would depend on the use of magic, the Master tried… to use the magic of his new body. My magic."

She shook her head in sorrow. "I tried to convince him not to, but he wouldn't listen. He said that if he couldn't control a Take Over like that, he didn't deserve to be called a Wizard Saint. Though he somehow managed to summon the magic power to use my Satan Soul, he… couldn't control it. If you hadn't arrived when you did, he might have destroyed what remained of the guild. So… thank you for coming back, Laxus."

Laxus blinked at her in surprise. Mira seemed earnest, though it didn't change the fact that many of the guild's other members were still glaring at him.

Now that the true Master was temporarily incapacitated, Mira – whether it was because she was currently 'Makarov' or not – seemed to have taken charge of the guild. "Elfman, Cana," she began, turning to the two of them. "Can you take the Master to the hospital where Levy and the others are? It'll be safer there."

"I think he'd rather stay," Erza spoke up quietly. She wasn't looking at Laxus, or Mira, or anyone at all. Though she was stood on a table, so the others could easily see her, she was staring down at the ground. "He'd want to be here, if these are to be Fairy Tail's last moments."

Mira nodded once. "Then, can you make him comfortable?" The two of them ran off to look for bedding and blankets.

"Hey," Natsu began. This time his challenging glare was directed at Erza. "What do you mean, Fairy Tail's last moments? Now that Laxus is here, we're going to charge into Phantom Lord's headquarters and teach them never to mess with Fairy Tail!"

"Oh, really?" Laxus replied easily. "That'll be fun, watching you fools be utterly destroyed by a _proper_ guild."

"Hey-!" Natsu tried, but Gray's roar cut him off.

"Are you saying you're not going to help us, you bastard?"

"Let me put it this way," said Laxus. "This guild is pathetic; I've been saying so for years. But even for you, this is a new low. One lone man waltzes in here and destroys half the guild and, between the old man's idiocy and your own incompetence, no one can do a thing about it. Why on earth should _I_ help _you_?"

"Because we're all members of Fairy Tail-"

"Fairy Tail? Don't make me laugh. If you can't even fight your own battles, you don't deserve to be in Fairy Tail!"

And with that final pronouncement, Laxus began walking through the stunned silence towards the stairs.

At times like this, Natsu would not have held back from attacking Laxus head-on, no matter how many times he was defeated. But without his Dragon Slayer magic, he could do nothing but tremble impotently. He turned instead to Mira. "Mira, do something! We can't let him leave like that!"

Mira looked at Natsu, troubled. Makarov would have known what to do, but their Master was unconscious, gravely wounded by just another awful twist in the string of calamities that had befallen Fairy Tail. An idea came to her, followed immediately by a warning. There was every chance it would just make things worse, but… without Laxus on their side, Fairy Tail was done for. Makarov would never allow it, but then if Makarov was capable of making decisions right now, they wouldn't need to resort to this in the first place. For the first time since she had stopped taking S-Class Quests, the full weight of responsibility was on her. She made her choice.

Raising her voice, Mira called out, as if in passing, "That's a shame. I suppose we'll have to find someone else to be our Master."

Laxus froze, one foot still in mid-air. "Master?" he growled.

Everyone was staring at Mira, their expressions ranging from incredulity to horror. She kept her gaze fixed on Laxus. She couldn't bear to look at the others. If she did, she might falter. "Of course. We can't go to war with another guild without a Guild Master to lead us. Since Master Makarov won't be taking part in this fight, it's only right that we choose a temporary Master until the battle with Phantom Lord has been won. Since you've always wanted to be the Master of Fairy Tail, I thought you'd jump at this chance to prove to your grandfather that you are ready and capable of taking on that mantle… but clearly not. Never mind, we'll find someone else. I'm sure Natsu is up for it-"

"No!" Laxus's eyes blazed; lightning crackled at his fingers. "No one will be Master of this guild except me!"

Mira smiled. "So, you'll stay, and help out your guild, then?"

"…I suppose." Laxus surveyed the crowd before him, as if daring anyone to challenge him. No one did. "Fine. Get ready to fight. We'll go to war with Phantom Lord."

Though thin at first, the resulting cheer quickly became mighty. Guild loyalty came before personal grudges; no one would complain as long as they were able to enact their revenge upon Phantom Lord.

Unnoticed by the cheering crowd, Erza slipped over to perch on the counter next to Mira. "Are you sure this is wise?" she asked.

"I don't know." Mira's troubled face said it all. "But I'll do what I have to do to protect this guild. I won't let this be the end of Fairy Tail… whatever the cost may be."

* * *

 _ **A/N:** And that's the first chapter. A lot of explanation this time but there you go. I hope you liked it! As you can see, it's less of a 'How can we undo Changeling?' story and more of a 'Given that Changeling is a thing, how are we going to survive the attack from Phantom Lord?' one. I'm planning three arcs like this - Phantom Lord, Tower of Heaven, Battle of Fairy Tail - with weekly updates (life permitting). Despite being a Changeling story, it's a serious one, so not really a comedy - though it will be exceedingly silly in places, starting from next chapter..._

 _In terms of characters, well, I mostly use the normal main cast. The one obvious exception is Laxus, who, as my favourite character, will be showing up a hell of a lot more than he does at this point in canon. I'd still be hesitant to call him the main character though. It's pretty balanced for the most part. I think._

 _Anyway, if you liked it then let me know, or even if you didn't! This is my first time writing for Fairy Tail so tell me what you think. Thanks for reading! ~CS_


	2. The War of the Guilds

_**A/N:** I have no idea how easy it will be to remember who has switched bodies with who when reading this, so here's a quick reminder: Gray/Lucy, Natsu/Loke, Cana/Elfman, Mira/Makarov, Happy/Erza, Jet/Droy. Planning and writing this while watching canon Phantom Lord for the first time was a total nightmare; I was so used to people being other people in my head that I could hardly keep track of what was going on. But that aside, I hope you enjoy chapter 2! ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

by CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Two: The War of the Guilds**

For Phantom Lord, it began as another ordinary afternoon.

The guildhall was full of relaxing mages. On one hand, Master Jose had temporarily forbidden anyone from taking on jobs, so they would be ready just in case Fairy Tail launched a counterattack. On the other hand, no one really believed Fairy Tail would retaliate. Their rival guild simply didn't have the courage, let alone the strength.

As more and more time passed, and they still heard nothing from the guild they had provoked, the mood in Phantom Lord's main hall became more and more jovial. Those who had started the day in training, or mentally preparing themselves for battle, were beginning to let down their guard. Several competitive games of cards had broken out, and more than one cask of ale had been brought up from the cellar. Gajeel was lurking somewhere up in the rafters, brooding as usual, and at least two of the guild's next four strongest mages, collectively known as the Element 4, were conspicuously absent from the scene, but everyone else was happily joining in with the games. Master Jose was nowhere to be seen, but that was nothing unusual. Despite their violent provocation of their long-time rival guild the night before, the day was shaping up to be disappointingly uneventful.

Then the front door exploded.

* * *

"Forward, Fairy Tail!" bellowed Laxus, leaping through the still-sparking wreckage of the entranceway he had just blasted down.

The others followed with more creative shouts of enthusiasm: some promised vengeance for Levy, some swore to return the damage to their guildhall tenfold, and some were simply challenges of strength to the famous Phantom Lord members they had always wanted to test themselves against. Nor were their enemies prepared to be left behind – they were finally getting the all-out battle they had desired for years. Their games forgotten, they sprang forward with glee as their opponents fanned out into the vast battlefield of a guildhall.

Fairy Tail's formation was a simple one, set down at the outset. Though Phantom Lord had the home advantage, rendering most complex tactics they could come up with more or less ineffectual, they couldn't just run in haphazardly either.

Laxus, having taken his new role as Temporary Guild Master to heart, was at the very front of their arrowhead formation. He would draw as much attention – and fire – as possible, a challenge which he relished. As well as clearing out the small fry and attracting their strongest opponents away from the weaker members of Fairy Tail, it was hoped that his reputation and aggression would be a satisfactory answer to the question of why Makarov wasn't leading the guild. Forming the front line of the arrowhead were the members of Fairy Tail who could still fight. Most of them were no strangers to combat, but the absence of the guild's most prominent mages was obvious. With any luck, no one would notice once the battle began in earnest.

At the back, hopefully protected from the worst of the fighting, were those still affected by Changeling: Erza, Happy, Lucy, Loke, Cana, Elfman, and Mira. Of those, the only one who could feasibly have fought without magic was Erza, thanks to her legendary sword skills, yet she was the one trapped in the body of a small flying cat. Their instructions were to stay out of trouble – apart from Mira. Makarov would be expected to confront his Phantom Lord equivalent, Jose; as Mira was currently stuck in his body, it fell to her to find Jose and stall him for as long as possible without letting him engage her in a magical battle. It wouldn't be easy, but then not a single thing about this battle was going to be easy.

Phantom Lord's rush crashed against Fairy Tail's arrowhead like a wave against a single stubborn rock. Within seconds, Laxus had broken through to the centre of the room, lightning dancing freely through the air around him and sending enemies flying. Blood fierce and adrenaline pounding, his magic raged rampant, the unparalleled power of Fairy Tail's strongest mage.

Nor did the others want to be left behind. Alzack and Bisca, back-to-back amidst a circle of enemies, unleashed the power of their guns. Macao launched a flurry of purple fireballs into the midst of a group of enemies, holding them back to allow Reedus to draw into existence a cannon powerful enough to bring down an entire section of roof. Despite their handicap, Fairy Tail's initial rush was going far better than they could have hoped.

Erza, however, could take no joy from it. All around her, her friends were fighting, and she could do nothing to help. From her low vantage point on the floor, she couldn't even see how the tide of the battle was turning; flying, so instinctive to Happy, was an impossibility for Erza when she couldn't even make his wings manifest themselves. She was Titania, she was the legendary mage of Fairy Tail, and yet here she was, hiding at the back, being protected by the very people that it was her job to defend.

Lucy saw her shaking, and misunderstood. "Don't worry, Erza. I'll protect you!"

Angrily, Erza looked away. "I don't _want_ to be protected," she hissed. "I want to fight!"

Lucy didn't know what to say to that. Happy, on the other hand, didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. "I'll fight for you, Erza! Don't worry, I'll protect your reputation!"

"Don't you dare-!" she yelled, but to her horror, he had already run into the nearest group of enemies. "Whatever you do, _don't_ try to Requip-"

"Requip!" Happy called out, triumphantly. "Heaven's Wheel Armour!"

Erza clapped a paw to her forehead. Bright light embraced Happy, and when it finally faded, it revealed not Erza's majestic bladed armour, but a pink frilly bikini. Happy struck an enthusiastic pin-up pose. One of the men surrounding him passed out; the others were far too busy staring at Erza's gorgeous body to even think about attacking.

Erza pressed her paws over her eyes. "It's not happening. It's not happening. It's not happening…"

"Hey! She's _not_ the only girl in Fairy Tail, you know!"

"Laki!" Lucy cried out happily, as the purple-haired girl launched herself towards Erza's admirers.

"Don't worry, I've got this! Wood Make: Vicious Eyes of a Woman Scorned!" Blades of wood burst up from the ground around Happy, sending the men flying. "Take that!" Laki added, dashing off to find some more enemies while Lucy called out her thanks.

"Happy! You can't fight like that!" Erza tried, but the chaos of battle was already upon them. Happy had disappeared into the fray; there was no way her voice could reach him now.

At Erza's urging, Lucy tried to push her way through the melee and find him, but she had barely taken two steps when another of Phantom Lord's men appeared in her path. She reached for her keys, only to find her hand grasping empty air. They were in Gray's possession now… wherever he was.

Her opponent was at least a foot taller than her, and he leered down at her with an evil grin. Lucy took a step backwards. "Erza! What should I do?"

"Ice Make, Lucy! You can do it! Just do what Gray would do!"

Lucy took a deep breath. Erza was counting on her, after all… and then a sudden thought occurred to her. "Got it!" she yelled, and in one easy movement she had ripped her shirt off and thrown it up into the air.

"I don't think the stripping is necessary for his magic…" Erza murmured.

"Hmm, I can see why he does this," Lucy remarked. "It's very… freeing."

" _Lucy!_ "

"Right! Take this!" She turned her attention to her opponent. "Ice Make: uh… uh… Ice… Punch!"

As expected, the magic failed to take effect. However, her enemy was so distracted by the fact that she had spontaneously thrown her shirt into the air that he failed to see her coming, and her punch connected cleanly with his chin. With a groan, he fell over backwards and didn't get up again.

"I did it!" she cheered.

"You… actually did," marvelled Erza.

But this wasn't single combat. They were stuck in the centre of a furious brawl, and another man, this one even larger than the first, immediately took his place. "You making fun of us, little Fairy?" he growled.

"Umm… Ice… Something-Or-Other?" Lucy tried.

A violet magic seal appeared around the man's raised hand. "You were foolish to come here, Fairy! Now taste my Dark-"

"Lucy!" A blur flew in from the side, tackling her opponent to the floor before he had a chance to activate his magic. Lucy was surprised to see it was Natsu – and even more surprised when she remembered it wasn't him at all, but Loke. Where was his normal bizarre shyness?

Loke planted himself firmly between the Phantom Lord mage and Lucy. In his hand he held what looked like a broken table leg, which he brandished fearlessly towards his opponent. "If you want her, you'll have to go through me!"

"Her?" demanded the mage, glancing from Loke to the man and the cat standing behind him. "Well, whatever. If your magic is as pathetic as his-"

"Never underestimate a Fire Dragon Slayer!" Loke challenged. "Fire Dragon's… Fiery Fire!"

To his surprise – and evidently the surprise of their opponent too – the end of his table leg spontaneously burst into flames. With a victorious cry, Loke swung it at his enemy, dealing him a solid blow to the head and setting his hair on fire. As his opponent panicked, looking for something to put the fire out with, Loke kicked him in the stomach and sent him flying backwards into the path of one of Laxus's stray lightning bolts.

Loke breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Loke," Lucy smiled. He glanced at her as if seeing her for the first time, and looked as if he wanted to run away, but was frozen in his tracks by Erza's fierce glare.

"At least let us stick together," she instructed. "What can we do on our own?"

The three of them stopped for a moment to survey the scene of the melee. They were still relatively close to the enormous hole where Fairy Tail had blasted their way into the guildhall, but any formation they might have held had long since broken down in the free-for-all. The members of Fairy Tail were spread throughout the hall, fighting for their lives amidst broken tables, scattered debris, and a horde of angry enemies. It was impossible to tell, from this position, who was winning: were Phantom Lord being pushed back, or had Fairy Tail let itself be split apart and its members isolated? The frustration and irritation returned all of a sudden to Erza. If only she could see what was going on – if only there was something she could _do_ -

"Erza! Lucy! Loke!"

They turned as one to see Cana – no, it was Elfman in her body – running towards them. He was bleeding from a shallow cut in his right arm, but apart from that he seemed unharmed. "Elfman! What's going on?"

"Progress report," he panted, slowing to a stop beside them. "I'm not much good for anything else at the moment, so… Anyway. Laxus has engaged Aria and Totomaru of the Element 4."

"Both at once?" Erza demanded.

"No one else stands a chance against them," Elfman confirmed sadly. "He's holding his own, though – he is our Laxus, after all." He managed a worried smile. "Phantom Lord are over their initial surprise, and are rallying, now that Laxus's rampage has been stopped. By the looks of things, we're all pretty exhausted, and it might be enough to turn the tide in their favour. In other news, Happy appears to be putting on a fashion show – but since Phantom Lord is mostly made up of Men, it's actually working rather well as a distraction."

Lucy almost laughed, but one glimpse of the dangerous look that sprang into Erza's eyes was enough to make her reconsider. Elfman continued hastily, "Master Jose is nowhere to be seen, so I assume Mira is managing to stall him. I'm more worried about the other people who are missing. Why aren't the other two members of the Element 4 stepping in to help their companions? And where is the one who started all of this, Iron Dragon Slayer Gajeel?"

"I don't like this," Erza said flatly. "Something's wrong."

"I agree, but what can we do?"

Erza lapsed into a brooding silence. Elfman cast her a worried look, then headed off again to deliver his report elsewhere. Then it was just the three of them again, hovering uncertainly on the edge of the battlefield. Lucy offered, "I suppose the only thing we can do for the time being is stay out of trouble…"

But even when Natsu wasn't with them, it seemed that trouble was never far away. Something dropped out of the sky like a black thunderbolt, smashing into the ground in front of the three of them and throwing up a cloud of dust and debris. They began surreptitiously backing away.

"So, you're the Salamander," boomed a dark voice, grating like steel. "The Fire Dragon Slayer I've heard so much about."

The dust cleared to reveal a large man staring at Loke with mean eyes. Between his spiky black hair, bold clothing, muscled physique, and the metal studs all over his body, there was only one person this could be – the Iron Dragon Slayer Gajeel; the one who had destroyed their guildhall and left Levy's team in hospital. There was disdain in those sharp red eyes of his as he surveyed his opposition. The three of them took an immediate disliking to him.

"Umm, yeah, about that…" Loke began, glancing around for an escape route that wasn't there.

Gajeel's eyes narrowed. "I knew you were weak, but I never thought you'd be a coward."

"Loke! Play along!" Lucy hissed.

"Easy for you to say," Loke muttered back. "You're not the one he wants to fight…" Raising his voice, he turned his attention back to Gajeel. "Yes. That's me. I'm definitely Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander. I like eating fire, and also… destroying things."

"And entering people's houses without their permission," Lucy added helpfully.

"Yes, breaking into people's houses-"

"And causing so much damage on missions that I can barely earn enough to pay my rent-"

"Shut up!" bellowed Gajeel. His right arm suddenly morphed into iron, extending towards the two of them quick as a flash; they barely managed to jump to the side in time as it splintered the floor where they had been standing. "Are you trying to make fun of me?"

"Not at all," Loke said severely. This man obviously wasn't about to give up, so the least he could do was make sure he alone was the target, and Lucy was safely out of harm's way. He nudged her gently aside, trying to convey the message to her through that one brief touch, and took up a battle stance.

Gajeel's sneer broadened. "Unfortunately for you, Salamander, it's just not your day. I've been waiting years for another Dragon Slayer to come along to test my strength against, and now I get to do two of my favourite things at once – defeating a famous opponent, _and_ crushing Fairies."

"Bring it," Loke declared, with a lot more confidence than he felt.

Gajeel gave him no further warning. "Roar of the Iron Dragon!" he yelled, as he prepared his breath attack. Loke had seen the devastation Natsu could cause with his, and took the sensible decision to run. He dived out of the way with all his might, sliding on his front underneath a table. Razor-sharp shards of iron lodged themselves into the wall behind him.

Lucy looked at them and shivered. "Erza, we have to do something! Loke will be torn to pieces!"

"Like what?" Erza hissed back frantically, as Gajeel kicked broken tables aside, looking for his opponent.

Lucy glanced around for a weapon, and her eyes fell upon a hefty chunk of rock that had been torn out of the wall when Laxus had blown the door in. "Sneak attack!" she grinned. With both hands she picked it up, appreciating for the first time Gray's well-honed muscles. Sometimes, being an athletic man did come in handy.

As Gajeel neared Loke's hiding place, Loke seized the initiative and sprung out towards him. "Talons of the Fire Dragon!" he called out defiantly. Unfortunately, that attack had even less of an effect than his attempt at 'Fire Dragon's Fiery Fire' earlier; he simply flew towards Gajeel and collided with him with no magic power whatsoever. On the plus side, the element of surprise worked wonders. Both of them tumbled to the floor.

Ignoring Erza's warning shout, Lucy jumped forwards to protect her friend. As Gajeel forced Loke off him and struggled to his feet, she brought the lump of rock crashing down on his head from behind. She let out an exultant cheer – and the rock cracked in two. The pieces of stone fell from her hand. Beneath it, Gajeel's skin was completely unmarked – skin that was covered in iron scales. He looked at her, scowled, and struck her a solid blow which launched her straight into the nearest wall. "Don't interfere!" he yelled.

"It's not working…" Lucy reported unnecessarily to Erza.

"We need to find someone with magic power to… to help us."

If Lucy noticed the hesitation, she ignored it. It wasn't the time. "But who? Gajeel only wants to fight Dragon Slayers…"

"Dragon Slayers? That's it. Lucy, stay here. I'm going to go and fetch Laxus."

"Laxus? But he's not a Dragon Slayer… is he? No, Erza, wait! What am I supposed to do to help?"

"Try and stall Gajeel as much as possible."

"Okay." Lucy narrowed her eyes at Gajeel. The ferocious Iron Dragon Slayer didn't seem to mind how much damage he did to his own guildhall. It was all Loke could do to stay one step ahead of the iron shards and powerful clubbing blows which smashed up tables as easily as if they were made of twigs. In that respect, she thought, Gajeel was an awful lot like Natsu - and that gave her an idea. "Say, Erza. If you were fighting Natsu without magic, how would you do it? Does he have a weakness you could exploit?"

"Motion sickness, perhaps? But that's of no use to us here." Erza frowned. "Doesn't Natsu have a really acute sense of smell? It's quite unusual. Maybe that's a thing common to Dragon Slayers."

"It's worth a shot! If we could just find something around here that smells really bad…"

Sniffing the air cautiously, Erza said, "Well, me, I suppose – don't even _think_ about it. Wait!" Abruptly she pulled out a fish as if from nowhere. "God only knows how long Happy's been keeping this…"

Lucy took it, wrinkling her nose in distaste. Here she was, going into battle against a legendary Dragon Slayer, armed only with a fish. But Erza had already gone, and it was far too late to be having second thoughts now. Loke was counting on her, after all, and he had only just started not running away from her.

She edged around the battlefield, waiting for her chance. A lucky blow from the Dragon Slayer's sword caught Loke in the shoulder as he tried to dodge. Blood sprayed across the floor. It was only a shallow wound, but the shock of it brought Loke to a stop, clutching his shoulder.

"How long are you going to keep running for?" Gajeel taunted. The Iron Dragon's Sword shifted back into his arm. Lucy must have been out of his line of sight by now. "This is a waste of time. How can you call yourself a Dragon Slayer, you pathetic little man?"

Loke said nothing. Out of the corner of his eye he glimpsed movement. It was with an immense force of will that he kept his gaze fixed firmly on his opponent, refusing to give away what he had seen. After all, it was all he could do. Even with magic at his disposal, he doubted he could have beaten Gajeel. Natsu could have done, perhaps, but Natsu wasn't here-

Gajeel boomed, "Iron Dragon's Roar!"

And he began inhaling for his breath attack. A fatal mistake.

Lucy jumped onto his back. One arm went around his neck for grip; the other thrust the fish under Gajeel's nose. For a moment nothing happened, and Lucy hung on for dear life in what must have been the most bizarre scene any of them had ever witnessed.

Then Gajeel's breath became a splutter, which turned into a choking roar of disgust. His body convulsed, throwing Lucy off again. Despite the pain from his shoulder, Loke didn't think twice about rushing forward to catch her, and he set her gently on her feet beside him.

Gasping, spluttering, and with streaming eyes, the Iron Dragon Slayer was truly a sight to behold. Gajeel turned his fury towards the two of them, shaking with rage. There was sheer hatred in his eyes.

"Oh dear," Loke commented, offhandedly. "I think you made him mad."

* * *

Erza ran.

So low to the ground, she could see nothing – not who was surrounding her, nor where she was, nor even where she was headed. Stray magic rained down all around her. There was no time to dodge it. She could only pray it wouldn't hit, and run on.

She saw the true chaos of battle. It wasn't something the three of them had been able to understand from their vantage point on the edge of the fray. All around her were legs, and weapons, and strangers – did they belong to friend or foe; Fairy or Phantom; a coordinated team of allies or a stranded lone soldier; a mage of great power or one rendered vulnerable by Changeling? In this place, it was all the same. Everyone she had to navigate around was an enemy; every stray spell which came within an inch of her fur was a threat. She could neither help her friends nor harm her enemies. This was no noble single combat, it was utter anarchy. She understood why Mira had argued against it, before she had been overruled by the guild's dangerous pride. Still she ran on.

Erza was halfway across the room before she realized that no one was paying her any attention. All the attacks that came her way were purely random; not a single person was actually targeting her. After all, she belatedly understood, she was a cat. And a harmless one at that, not even having Happy's flying abilities. No one even noticed her, let alone perceived her as a threat.

As Fairy Queen Titania, Requip mage of great renown, Erza wouldn't have been able to take two steps across that battlefield without someone challenging her. As Happy, on the other hand, she could go where she pleased. It was a minor and petty task that she had been given, but it was one that only she could do. And once she realized this, she bent her full power towards it, and crossed this place of pandemonium with enviable agility.

She was only aware of having found Laxus when the forest of legs around her suddenly thinned out. The battling mages had, rather smartly, given Laxus and his opponents a wide berth; he stood at the centre of the only empty circle of floor in the entire room. Lightning sparked eagerly at his fingertips.

Elfman had said he was fighting against two of Phantom Lord's legendary Element 4. Quickly assessing the scene, Erza saw a slim man with a samurai-style topknot buried under a pile of rubble from the broken ceiling – she guessed Totomaru wouldn't be re-joining the fight any time soon. Aria of the Heavens was stood opposite Laxus. Bruised but not beaten, he was attempting to call into being some Airspace magic, but even as Erza watched, Laxus flung out one hand and an enormous surge of lightning arced between the two of them. It was powerful enough to shatter Aria's spell before completion, and it struck the caster with sufficient voltage to hold him paralyzed to the spot while Laxus's intense magic power tore through his body.

After a second or two of Aria's screams, the electricity vanished and Laxus's arm fell to his side. The lightning mage was breathing heavily. Now that the surge of power had passed, Erza could see him for how he really was – sweating and trembling with exhaustion, his clothes marred by burns and slashes. She felt a stab of alarm. Had he used up so much of his magic power already? Perhaps even he, against two S-Class Mages at once… not to mention the damage he must have taken during his initial wanton charge. Relying on one man alone to fight an entire enemy guild had been foolish. Surely no single person had that much power.

"Laxus!" Erza called out sharply.

He turned to seek the source of the sound with an unintelligible grunt. Even before he registered her, he seemed to pull himself together, suppressing instantly those signs of weakness she had glimpsed. "What do you want now?"

"It's Gajeel. He's determined to test himself against a Dragon Slayer – you're the only one who can stop him."

"What do I care?" he glared.

"Because he's only just joined the fight. He's still at full strength. If he's allowed to roam free, he'll devastate what remains of Fairy Tail!"

Laxus gave a dangerous scowl. Erza added, unafraid, "All this will be for nothing if you can't stop him."

"Do I have to do everything myself around here?"

Without giving her a chance to respond, Laxus activated his lightning form and dashed across the battlefield. Erza let out the breath she had been holding. What she would give to have her own magic back… well, with any luck, Laxus would be able to wrap this up quickly and they could all go home and focus on trying to undo Changeling rather than fighting pointless battles.

* * *

There were few forces in all of Fiore more dangerous than a bored Natsu.

Take the boredom of having to stand watch over three comatose patients with absolutely nothing to do to pass the time, add to it the frustration of being forced to stay in the hospital while the rest of the guild were out enacting vengeance on their foes, and give him no one to talk to but an equally-irritable Gray… and you had on your hands an extremely dangerous and unpredictable Natsu, these qualities not at all diminished by his lack of magic power. If they had been able to harness it properly, the irrepressible trouble-making ability of Bored Natsu would have been their guild's strongest weapon in the fight against Phantom Lord.

But he wasn't there – he was here, and ready to explode at any moment.

"Gaaaah!" Natsu exclaimed. "I can't stand this waiting! Why wouldn't Erza let me go and fight? I'd have wiped the floor with those Phantom Lord jerks!"

"You know perfectly well why," Gray shot back. "Erza wasn't about to let anyone who had absolutely no magic take part in a war between mage guilds."

"It's so stupid. Those Phantom Lord freaks are still no match for me."

Gray's eyes shifted to him in anger. "Don't you think I feel the same way?"

"But I'm so bored!"

"Then hurry up and figure out Loke's magic already, so you can go off and let Phantom Lord walk all over you, and leave me in peace."

" _What_ did you just say?"

Their situation was absolutely one of necessity – neither of them would have agreed to it otherwise. Since Changeling had swapped his and Loke's bodies, Natsu hadn't been able to use any magic at all. None of them knew what kind of magic Loke possessed, and his habit of running away whenever Lucy was around had made asking him about it an impossibility. As hard as he tried, Natsu just couldn't figure it out, and so Erza had ordered him, with a dangerously short temper, to stay in the hospital and keep watch over Levy, Jet and Droy.

Gray's situation was almost the opposite. He was very familiar with Lucy's magic, having fought alongside her many times. However, regardless of whether he could open a Celestial Spirit Gate or not, he wasn't Lucy. The contracts between her and her Spirits simply didn't apply to him. They were under no obligation to even answer his summons, let alone obey him. Lucy would be able to control the Spirits, but she lacked the Celestial Magic needed to call them in the first place. So he too was back to square one, and thus had been reduced to sentinel duty… with Natsu. It just got better and better.

Natsu jumped to his feet, an idea popping into his head. "Hey, Gray! Why don't we have a fight right here and now to determine which of us is the strongest?"

Gray's glower was enough of an answer to that, but he put it into words anyway. "Because we're in a _hospital_ , you idiot."

"Who are you calling an idiot, idiot?"

"Oh, just shut up."

Natsu was silent for all of about ten seconds. "Then how about we settle our rivalry with… an arm wrestle?"

"Because in case you haven't noticed, right now I'm Lucy and you're Loke! In what way would that help determine which of us is actually stronger?"

"But I'm so bored…"

"Then how about you, I don't know, go and find a jug of water, in case Levy or the others wake up?"

"Huh? Go get one yourself!"

"Fine then, you think of something to do!"

Natsu scowled. "Fine, I'll go…"

Thankfully, he left the room. Gray sighed. This was such a pain. He wanted to be a part of the fight just as much as Natsu did, but someone had to be the mature one here.

It was a peaceful day. Here in the specialist mage inpatient wing of Magnolia Hospital it was completely uneventful, with no sign of the destruction that was undoubtedly occurring over in Phantom Lord's base of operations. The sky was a cloudless blue, and the sunlight it bore was gentle; it streamed in through the wide windows of the room and bathed the pale walls in friendly light.

Neither Levy, Jet nor Droy had woken since the attack. The doctors had said that their injuries weren't too severe. It was more likely they had exhausted themselves badly during the fight, and would wake up once their magic power had sufficiently recovered. Even so, looking at their sleeping forms was a painful experience for Gray. He wanted to find the person who had made them this way and make them pay… and yet he was stuck here, and bored out of his mind.

At the sound of something smashing, Gray jumped straight to his feet. The sound had come from the corridor outside, and it could mean only one thing: danger. He ran towards the door, determined to place himself between the entrance and his defenceless friends, already half-trying to Ice Make some form of a weapon.

He pulled open the door – only to find Natsu bent double over a puddle of rapidly spreading water, hastily fishing out pieces of broken pottery. When he saw Gray staring, he grinned sheepishly. "Dropped the jug," he reported, somewhat unnecessarily. Gray sighed in exasperation and slammed the door shut again.

Alone again, Natsu stopped trying to collect the broken pieces of the jug. That was the right thing to do, wasn't it? It was the truth. He had simply dropped the jug. It was probably best not to let Gray know that the reason for it was that his hand had momentarily become insubstantial.

Some time later, Natsu returned to the room. Gray didn't even look up as he entered. "I hope you cleaned up your mess."

"Sure I did."

Gray didn't seem to notice the unusually subdued quality of the response. Natsu sat down in the chair next to him, trying to mimic his companion's brooding posture. It didn't last long. "Hey, Gray, do you see that?"

"What?"

"I think there's someone watching us. From outside."

Narrowing his eyes against the glare from the window, Gray struggled to see what Natsu was referring to. There was nothing but the swaying of the trees, and the dancing of the dappled shadows on the road- there! A shadow moving against the wind. Honing in on the anomaly, eyes trained amongst the bright mountain snow picked out a figure hiding in the shade behind a tree – a girl, probably about their age, staring intently into their window from across the street.

"I see her." Gray frowned. "Wait, I think I've seen her hanging around outside Fairy Tail before. Isn't she one of Loke's girlfriends?"

Natsu froze. "…Seriously?"

"Think so. Uh-oh, looks like she's seen you. She's heading for the entrance."

"…Time to go," Natsu breezed, and quick as a flash he had disappeared through the door.

Only a minute later, the door opened again. "Excuse me," came a female voice, as she stepped into the room. Now that he could see her clearly, Gray was sure that he had seen her before with Loke. He almost wished he hadn't warned Natsu. Now _that_ would have been an entertaining confrontation.

The girl was quite tall, with short blonde hair and a pretty face – all of which was of significantly less interest to Gray than the fact that she was clearly a mage of some description. If she didn't belong to Fairy Tail, then where?

"Excuse me," she repeated, her voice gaining strength. "Have you seen Loke anywhere?"

"I'm afraid not."

Her dainty smile became a suspicious glare. "Really? Because I'm pretty sure I just saw him in here with you."

"…You must have been imagining things. Sorry."

"Fine, be like that," she hissed, dropping the façade completely. "I don't know who you think you are, but you're _really_ not Loke's type, you know?"

Gray laughed. "I'd certainly hope not!"

The stranger clearly didn't know how to react to that, so she made an angry noise and stormed out. Gray was still grinning when he saw her leave the hospital and walk off down the road.

"Okay, Natsu," he called. "She's gone. You can come out now."

There was no response.

"…Natsu?"

* * *

To any witnesses, Natsu would have appeared extremely shifty.

In a panic, he had left the hospital by a side door without thinking, and now he was stuck. He couldn't return to the building in case she was still in there, but he couldn't leave either, since Gray might need him. So he had hidden himself in a side alley just off the main road that the hospital was on, pressed into the shadows, occasionally turning his head slightly to see if the girl was heading his way.

Loke's hood was pulled up over his head; the fur covered his distinctive ginger hair and his ears. His hands were in his pockets in an attempt to look inconspicuous. He probably couldn't have seemed more suspicious if he had tried. Parents walking by hurried their children along. It didn't help that the alleyway was also used for storing garbage, and he was lurking next to a skip and two dustbins. It was hardly the most pleasant of hiding places.

Presently, he spotted the girl striding along the pavement in his direction. She looked angry. Natsu pressed himself into the shadows, hoping she wouldn't notice him. Fortunately, she swept by without as much as a glance in his direction. Natsu let out the breath he had been holding – and then his heart skipped a beat. At that moment, the wind had chosen to blow back her hair, revealing on the side of her neck the guild mark of Phantom Lord.

Before he knew what he was doing, Natsu bounded out of his hiding place. "Hey there, uh, darling!"

"Loke?" The girl span round incredulously.

"Hey," he greeted, with his broadest smile. "Say, I was just looking for you! Could you tell me where Phantom-"

"Wait a minute," she interrupted, eyes narrowed to slits. " _Darling?_ Since when have you called me darling?"

"Since, uhh, since you got promoted. Just now. Up my list of girlfriends. Congratulations, you're now 'darling'."

" _List of girlfriends?_ "

"…Yes. But you're now at the top of it, you see! I don't care about them any more, it's only you now, my darling-"

"Oh, really? Then what's my name?"

"It's, uhh…" Natsu glanced frantically from left to right, but there was no way out of this. He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the alley. "Okay, you got me. I'm not really Loke."

"You're not…? What are you talking about? Hey – let go of me!" She pulled her arm free, and a burning magic seal appeared at her fingertips. Acting purely on instinct, Natsu seized the lid from the nearest dustbin and struck her round the head with it.

"Oww!" she exclaimed, staggering back against the wall.

"Sorry about that," said Natsu, matter-of-factly. "But the thing is, I'm a guy with something of a _major_ grudge against your guild. So here's the deal: either you can tell me right now exactly how to get to Phantom Lord's headquarters… or you and the contents of this bin can have a discussion about it first, and _then_ you can tell me."

"Fine, whatever."

"Heh, really?"

"Sure. It's not like I care about any of this guild stuff anyway. I only joined your rivals to get back at you, and if you'd rather hang out with lying bitches like _her_ then be my guest… wait, are you sure you want to know where the headquarters are? Not the guildhall?"

"Don't try and trick me! Where's your guild's headquarters?"

The girl affected a disdainful shrug. "Well, if that's what you want."

She gave him directions. He replaced his bin lid back on top of the bin. "Great, thanks," Natsu beamed, letting her go and running off straight away in the direction she had indicated. He was already picturing the look of surprise on Erza's face when he turned up to save the day. That would teach her to try and make him stay behind!

"Loke, wait!" the girl called.

Over his shoulder, Natsu yelled, "Oh yeah, I forgot to say: you're dumped!"

"Fine! It's not like I care about you anyway!"

"How does Loke deal with all these women?" Natsu muttered to himself as he ran. "He should just get a cat like me."

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Fire Dragon's Fiery Fire should totally be a Dragon Slayer's Secret Art. The enemies would never see it coming. Oh, and I'm fairly sure Loke's ex-girlfriend will be making another appearance. In other news, __I think this chapter might be slightly misleading as to just how light-hearted this story is actually going to be. It's a serious piece. Honestly. Anyway, thanks for reading! ~CS_


	3. The Misadventures of Natsu and Gray

_**A/N:** Chapter Three. With a title like that, what could possibly go wrong? ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Three: The Misadventures of Natsu and Gray**

Gray was absolutely not worried. Everything was fine. What did he care if Natsu was taking forever to return? He didn't even get on with the guy. They were rivals. Not to mention, it was so peaceful and quiet with him gone.

Besides, what was the worst that could happen to him? He was _Natsu_. No one got into trouble as frequently as he did, and he was still fine. Sure, he no longer had his Dragon Slayer magic, and their guild was currently at war with a dangerous enemy, but there was no real reason why any Phantom Lord mages would be lurking in Magnolia on the off-chance that they would run into someone from Fairy Tail. Seriously, the worst thing coming to him was probably a slap from one of Loke's ex-girlfriends. Even Natsu wouldn't do anything stupid at a time like this. Everything was fine. There was nothing to worry about.

And yet Natsu _still_ hadn't come back.

Even though there was no one who would see it, Gray affected a sigh. "Fine. I'll go and look for him."

No sooner had he stood up than there came a sound from one of the hospital beds. All thoughts of chasing Natsu went straight out of his head. Jet was coughing. His eyes were open.

Gray ran over to his bedside. "Jet! You're awake!"

"Yeah," the other murmured. His voice was weak, but he met Gray's eyes and tried a smile. "Just about, I think."

"That's great news! Wait, are you Jet, or Droy? You two were switched by Changeling, right?"

"Hmm. Yeah, we were, but then we switched back."

"You switched back?" Gray practically shouted. He almost grabbed the other man by the collar in his eagerness, but restrained himself just in time. "How? Did Levy figure something out in the library?"

"No, nothing. We were just on our way home, and then we were attacked by that bastard Gajeel."

"Then what did you do? How did you undo Changeling?"

Jet seemed to think about it for a moment, then shrugged. "I have genuinely no idea. It just happened."

"When?" Gray persisted. "What were you doing at the time?"

"…I think it was just during the fight?" Jet hazarded. "We were trying to protect Levy, and then all of a sudden I could use magic again, and we had returned to our original bodies. Not that it did us much good. I don't really remember much more than that, before waking up here, so I gather we lost the fight quite badly."

Gray was abruptly reminded of how much Team Shadow Gear had been through. Jet's teammates were still unconscious in the beds beside him, after all. "Don't worry about it," he said. "We'll try and work it out at another time." When Natsu wasn't missing. When they weren't in the middle of a war. When they had the chance to properly figure out what was going on.

Jet closed his eyes wearily. "Say, Gray. What's going on? Why were we attacked? Is Fairy Tail in danger?"

"Yeah…" He made up his mind. "Look, Jet, turns out, there's quite a lot going on right now. We're at war with Phantom Lord, and- and I think Natsu is in danger. I've got to go after him."

"Sure, no worries. I'll keep an eye on things here."

Gray nodded. "Thanks. I'll be back soon. Oh, and if you can remember anything else that happened before you switched back, then let someone know as soon as possible."

"Maybe one of the others understands what happened better than I do…" said Jet, doubtfully, but Gray was already gone. When his teammates were threatened, no matter what he said about them, Gray would always put their safety above his own personal circumstances.

* * *

"Natsu?" Shading his eyes against the sun, Gray glanced up and down the street warily. There was no sign of Natsu; in fact, there was nothing at all out of the ordinary to be found in that pleasant urban scene. Gray wasn't sure whether or not that was reassuring. If Natsu had been taken by force, there ought to have been a _lot_ more destruction around. On the other hand, this surrounding calm left Gray with no leads at all.

"What is he _doing_ , that idiot?" he cursed aloud. A passing woman threw him a curious glance, and Gray scowled again.

This was getting him nowhere. If he wanted to find Natsu, he'd have to think like Natsu. After a moment's consideration, he banished the image of sophisticated Loke from his mind, and pictured Natsu as he had been before, from his pink hair and his beloved scarf to his burning eyes and goofy grin. Natsu, throwing fire around as wantonly as a dragon. Natsu, destroying things and costing them their entire reward. Natsu, picking fights with him; with every strong mage they came across, friend or foe… Yeah, he had gone to fight Phantom Lord, hadn't he?

"That idiot!" Gray burst out savagely. "Idiot, idiot, idiot!" But the idiot in this situation was almost certainly him, for being so slow on the uptake. Why had he ever thought Natsu would be mature enough to accept Erza's arguments and stay behind while his guild went to war? Just because Natsu looked like Loke, had that really caused Gray to forget who he was dealing with here?

Gray was already moving. He thought he could remember where Phantom Lord's guildhall was; in his mind he had begun laying out the fastest way to get there. By the time he reached the main road he was running flat-out, pushing his way past startled pedestrians. He spied an empty shortcut alley and dived into it, already thinking of all the ways he was going to make Natsu pay for making him rush after him like this-

"Drip, drip, drop."

A sound like a knife. Those words cut right through the air; quiet, yet somehow forcing themselves to be heard above Gray's fierce breathing and pounding heart. It was a voice with the delicate melody of raindrops, but just as the gentle rain became a river and a river became a torrent with the power to carve out valleys through solid rock, so too did those lilting words carry with them an undertone of force and the promise of devastation. Gray felt the formidable magic power of the speaker conveyed to him through those words even before he detected it with his own senses. The first drops of rain touched his skin.

The speaker had entered the alleyway behind him and Gray had a mounting suspicion about who she was – and that matchup wasn't a battle he wanted at the best of times, let alone when he was trapped in Lucy's body in this unimportant alleyway when what he really needed was to be at Phantom Lord's guildhall. He picked up the pace.

Combat was instinctive to him, just as much as it was to Natsu. Without conscious thought, he was already devising a strategy. Was this a spontaneous attack on a Fairy Tail member, or a deliberate attempt at a kidnapping? Given the reputation of the woman behind him as one of Phantom Lord's infamous Element 4, he doubted she would just happen to be in town while her guild was under attack, and that meant this was deliberate – which suggested they were after Lucy.

Why? He resolved to ask Lucy next time they met. More important was coming up with a way to win against a legendary and hostile mage without any magic whatsoever. Had she only just found him now, or had she waited in particular for him to enter this deserted street before attacking? If the latter was true, it might be his chance to escape. Whether it was out of concern for the ordinary citizens who would get swept up in a magical battle, or a worry about being seen by anyone while kidnapping the target, it gave him an opportunity: if he could make it back out into the open she might hesitate to attack him. At the very least, he could try to blend in with the crowd and make a getaway.

Gray put on an extra burst of speed. He could see the bright white rectangle of the exit looming up before him – but all of a sudden it was no longer the empty gateway to safety he had envisaged. There was a man standing in the way, rising up out of the earth; a shadow of a mage between him and freedom.

"Bonjour, mon ami," greeted the man, rather amicably. Earth rose up out of the ground around him at an unseen command, forming a barrier between Gray and the exit. He skidded to a stop. He could hear the click of heeled shoes against paving stones getting closer; feel the rain intensifying against his skin. Two of the Element 4, sent to capture one Celestial Spirit mage? What did Lucy have that Phantom Lord wanted so badly – and that he, her teammate, didn't know about?

Whatever it was, he wasn't about to let them take it without a fight. He seized Lucy's whip from his belt and gave it an experimental flick; there was power behind it, but the tip lashed harmlessly against the stone of his opponent's constructs. His experienced enemies weren't about to give him the chance to try another attack.

A globe of water enveloped him. Struggling, Gray tried to suppress his instinct to breathe. His eyes were burning, his throat constricting; the more he fought, the more the water seemed to press down upon him, suspending him in the air with its artificial pressure. He tried breaking through it with the whip, but without any magic power he could not bring the rope up to a high enough speed through the water for it to be of any use. Before, he would have been able to freeze the water easily, but he was no longer Gray the Ice Make mage, student of the great Ur. Now he was… just Lucy.

As he blacked out, a single thought made Gray smile. Hopefully, if two of the Element 4 were here, Fairy Tail was beating the crap out of the rest of their guild.

* * *

This was what it was like to be an S-Class Mage again.

It was not a feeling Mira had experienced recently, but it was a part of her history, however much she might have tried to deny it over the past two years. The thrill of remembrance sent a tingle down her spine.

Phantom or Fairy – the raging sea of friend and foe parted to let her through. Fairy Tail had their cheap mockery of a plan, of course, but Phantom Lord were under no such obligation to let her pass. Not one of them dared to stand against Makarov, the man who held the title of Wizard Saint, ranking at least as highly as their own Master Jose and with an even more fearsome reputation. Makarov's very presence commanded respect, from the ordinary mages of Fiore right up to the Magic Council itself. Here on the battlefield that respect manifested as awe and fear; in the unwillingness to meet her eye and the search for a different opponent to fight as she drew near.

Oh, she was well aware that it was fear of Makarov's body that drove them, not of her. It was not only the truth, but a lifeline that she clung to. But it _had_ been her, once. Back in the days when she was still the Demon Mirajane. Back when she had actually been of some use to her guild.

The long walk through the deserted halls to Master Jose's self-styled throne room was a silent and lonely one, almost designed for introspection. She could hear the distant sounds of battle – the ferocious rage of Fairy Tail giving their all for their pride as a family – and, now, just like every other time when Fairy Tail was in danger and she could do nothing but watch from the sidelines, she felt that twinge of guilt in her heart that had become just another part of her daily existence.

Surely, out of everyone in the guild, she was the least qualified to be taking Master Makarov's place in this fight. She could barely even be called a mage any more. After Lisanna's death, Take Over Magic had become impossible for her. The vision of her little sister's face – of Lisanna's tears – was enough to stop her in her tracks. Yes, it had been Elfman's Take Over that had gone wrong and caused the accident, but it had been her fault. She was the S-Class Mage; the responsible one. She had been so full of her own power that she had dragged her younger siblings along on a mission that was far too dangerous… and because of that arrogance, Lisanna had died.

People always felt sorry for Elfman, and so did she, of course, but… But he had managed to move past it, even if it was just a little. If he could only use Take Over magic on his arm, what did it matter? It was better than the nothing she could do. He could still take jobs, and support Fairy Tail, and protect his friends. What could _she_ do? Work behind the bar. Smile at the newcomers. Promote the guild in Weekly Sorcerer. Listen sympathetically to other people's problems, and not have the power to do a single thing about them. What she felt, walking through that hall, was nothing more than an echo of what she used to be. She didn't deserve to even pretend to be a Guild Master.

And didn't that bring up the question of Laxus? Even allowing for all his faults and all the fears Makarov had confided to her about him not being ready, he had saved her when Makarov's Take Over had gone wrong. He had done, almost effortlessly, what she had failed to do on that fateful day. He had protected everyone, and she had let Lisanna die. It had all been over so quickly that the reality of what was happening hadn't had the chance to properly sink in – any longer, and both she and Elfman would likely have broken down. But Laxus had dealt with it in an instant. Maybe that was why she had been inclined to put aside those crucial reservations and trust him with – no, persuade him to take on! – temporary leadership of Fairy Tail.

But if she truly believed she had made the right decision, why was she here? There was no need to bother with the small fry in the guild; they should have announced to the world that Laxus was temporarily taking over Fairy Tail, and sent him straight in to fight Master Jose and bring an end to all of this without the need for all-out war. And yet she had proposed that she go instead in an attempt to stall him.

It wasn't that she didn't think he could win. It was Laxus's character she had reservations about, not his power – while the odds wouldn't exactly be in his favour against a Wizard Saint, the outcome would by no means be predetermined. No, it was exactly the fear that Laxus might win such a confrontation that had forced her hand on this one. If he had come in here as Fairy Tail's new and unelected leader, and single-handedly saved his guild by defeating a Wizard Saint… Well, he would never be content to just hand leadership back over to his grandfather again, to say the least. Even worse, he would have good grounds to argue that his position should be made permanent; could put forward a case for it that even Makarov would have trouble arguing against without seeming unreasonable.

Laxus, as the official Master of their guild? She dreaded to think what the consequences of that would be for Fairy Tail. Her personal feelings notwithstanding, she agreed whole-heartedly with Makarov's doubts about Laxus's character. She doubted him as a leader; she could barely even trust him to have his own guild's best interests at heart. The thought of what she had done horrified her. She had persuaded the others to give Laxus power, and now she found herself unable to go through with that decision.

Regret and self-doubt: hadn't that been the story of her life since Lisanna had died? She lacked conviction, and that was why she didn't have the courage to do anything.

And so she was here, trying to pay back what she owed to the guild that might suffer from her bad decisions. If she could just stall Jose for long enough, Laxus and the others might be able to wreak so much damage on Phantom Lord that even though their Master would survive unscathed, he would never be able to resurrect his guild the way it once was… and then Fairy Tail might just manage to find a safe path between the dangers within and without, and rise up once more.

So Mira kicked in the door. It fell with a resounding crash in this quiet place. Behind it waited Jose, sitting on his throne with a satisfied smirk on his face. As Mira drew on her courage and strode rapidly into the room, she couldn't help but wonder if he could somehow tell that she wasn't who she claimed to be. Would it be immediately obvious from her magical presence? Would there just be a sense that something was off about her?

"Master Makarov," purred Jose, with the ease of a man brimming with self-confidence. "What an unexpected pleasure it is to see you here."

Mira rested the butt of her staff on the ground in front of her, placed both her palms atop it, and did her best to look stern. "Master Jose. Let's put aside the pretence. We both know why I'm here."

"And why might that be? Do tell me, Makarov, my old friend."

Mira was about to say that they had never been friends, but she caught herself just in time. What if they had been allies, once upon a time, maybe even before she was born? That was exactly the kind of chance that she couldn't afford to take if this ruse was going to work for long enough.

She shuffled slightly, gathering her thoughts in the patronising silence. "You know perfectly well what I'm talking about. The destruction of my guildhall. The unprovoked assault and humiliation of three members of Fairy Tail." She accentuated every word with a swift tap of her staff.

A broad smile spread across Jose's face, an almost perfect inversion of his comic moustache. "Humiliation? Surely it is not my fault if your Fairies are so weak that they suffer from humiliating defeats." Mira's grip tightened on her staff – anger she certainly did not have to fake. "Besides, that has nothing to do with me. What if I told you that Gajeel Redfox was working alone?"

"Then we'd both know you were lying. Don't try pretending that you haven't sought the destruction of Fairy Tail for years – I think we know each other a little better than that, don't you? Even if you didn't directly order Gajeel to attack, he was most certainly carrying out your wishes when he did so." This was getting them nowhere. Mira changed her grip on her staff and tried another direction. "What I can't fathom is why you would suddenly start attacking us openly now, of all times."

Unless… but he couldn't possibly have known that! Or could he? She had thought it was just unfortunate timing, but was there some way in which he could have found out about Changeling?

Jose laughed. "You have come into the possession of something that I want, Makarov."

What on earth was he talking about? "And it didn't occur to you that we might be able to talk it over like adults?"

For a moment there was stunned silence in the room, and then Jose's mocking laughter returned with a vengeance. "Oh, I never realised you had such a sense of humour! First you stroll in here in such a civilized manner, rather than throwing magic around, and now you're actually proposing that we talk this through with a straight face! This is better entertainment than I had expected from your guild – and your children seem to be putting up quite a fight downstairs. How you managed to get your prodigal grandson to return to the fold is beyond me, but he is certainly proving to be quite the thorn in the side of my Element 4. I look forward to crushing him once I'm through with you."

Too late, Mira began to brace herself for the attack to come.

"But I tire of this pointless discourse. I'm a busy man, and I already have what I wanted. Only one of us was ever going to leave this room alive – and I'm afraid, my dear Makarov, that that person isn't going to be you."

* * *

The first thing Gray noticed was his altitude. It probably wasn't something that most people, upon waking up in an unknown location with burning lungs, a screaming headache, and hazy memories of losing in a magical battle, would think of checking. But Gray was an ice mage who had lived in the mountains for many of his younger years, and that sort of observation came naturally to him.

They weren't nearly far enough from the ground for there to be any of the thinning of the air that he was used to, but it was colder. An ordinary person wouldn't have been able to detect that – and Gray almost missed it, thanks to the insensitivity of Lucy's body – but an ice mage could. It came in with the air, that chill of a place just too estranged from the warmth of the life in the ground to be comfortable; the sharp bite of the wind when there were no tall structures around to temper its rush.

So, it was only his second day of being a girl, and Gray had already been kidnapped and locked in a tower. He was starting to understand what Lucy meant when she complained about the problems of being too cute.

That was long enough for the grogginess of sleep to leave him, though he kept his eyes firmly shut. He could now recall with vivid clarity his battle with – well, his failed attempt to run away from – the two members of the Element 4. Apart from his lungs, which still complained with every breath he took, he seemed mostly unharmed. He was fairly certain he could run if he had to, and his hands weren't tied. That was an oversight on his captor's behalf – or perhaps he was just confident that Gray wasn't a threat. Whatever awaited him here in this tower was bound to be unpleasant.

Reluctantly, Gray opened his eyes. He tried moving, testing out the strength of his body. Lucy was more resilient than she looked. He supposed she had to be, in order to keep up with him and Natsu; he had just never really noticed before. He was pretty sure he could stand, and run, if the need arose. Where he would go – or how he would get down from this tower – was another matter entirely.

That slight stretch of his muscles was enough to alert his captor to his wakefulness. A silky-smooth voice rose above the muffled beating of wind on stone. "You're awake at last, Lucy Heartfilia."

There was no point in pretending further, so Gray pushed himself to his feet. There was only one other person in that room void of furniture, standing with his back to the large single arch which served as the only exit from the top of the tower. The stranger was taller than Gray, and older; flamboyant, fearless and cunning. He was wearing what appeared to be a long purple coat over a plain shirt, intricately detailed, jagged and spiky and topped off with a crooked witch's hat of the same shade of purple. A pair of decorative bat wings topped the whole ensemble. There were no words to describe his thin and pointy moustache other than 'ridiculous'; if it wasn't for the crafty look in the man's eyes, and the fact that Gray was his prisoner, he might have laughed at him.

As it was, he settled for a safe retort. "Who the hell are you?"

"Oh, please do forgive my rudeness." Gray's eyes narrowed; the man sketched a bow. "Jose Porla, Master of Phantom Lord, at your service. But this isn't about me, Miss Lucy – it's about you. I know all about you, you see."

"You know nothing about me!" It was so true, Gray wanted to laugh.

"I know, for example, that you are Lucy Heartfilia, sole heiress to the fortune of the Heartfilia Konzern."

Gray's jaw dropped. Was that true? _Lucy?_ Sure, he knew her family name, but he had never put two and two together before – and why would he have done? Lucy, clumsy Lucy, who relied on Natsu not destroying things on jobs just to scrape together enough money to pay her rent, the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in all of Fiore? No, it couldn't be right. Jose had kidnapped the wrong person. Well, he _had_ kidnapped the wrong person, but that was another matter entirely.

At the sight of Gray's comical expression, Jose chuckled. "Aha. You thought you had managed to keep that a secret, didn't you? Running to Fairy Tail, pretending to be poor so they would take you in – I bet you didn't even tell your friends, did you? They'll be so disappointed in you."

"They wouldn't care," Gray retorted. "You know nothing about Fairy Tail!"

"Just as you seem to know nothing about your father. He's very eager to have you back, you see. Eager enough to go round all the guilds in Fiore, offering a vast reward to anyone who could bring his only child back home."

"He wanted you to _kidnap_ her-me? No lawful guild would take on a mission like that, no matter what sort of reward was offered!"

"Oh, I'd hardly call it kidnapping. More a case of… returning lost property."

Gray's eyes blazed dangerously. "Lucy – I mean, I don't belong to anyone but myself! If I want to leave, then I can leave, and any attempt to drag me back there is- is just wrong!"

"Fortunately for me, your father doesn't seem to think that way." Jose gave him a smile which didn't quite extend to his eyes. "That's what all the other guilds said, when he contacted them. But just when he was about to give up, believing he would never see his beloved daughter again… Phantom Lord stepped in to save the day."

"You're despicable."

"On the contrary. There was no one else the poor man could turn to."

"You just wanted an excuse to attack Fairy Tail."

"Naturally. You're quite astute, I see. Your father raised you well as a businesswoman. It's a shame your magic isn't quite on the same level. You couldn't even put on a show for Juvia and Sol, after they went out of their way to go and pick you up."

Gray's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

"But you are right, of course. Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord have been rivals for many years. We've always been closely matched in power… and then you come along: a sweet and innocent little girl, useless in combat, but bearing the vast fortunes of the Heartfilia Konzern. That sort of money would easily be enough to tip the scales in Fairy Tail's favour… and that absolutely cannot be permitted. Now, we can remove you from the picture and crush your guild in one fell swoop. Isn't it wonderful? You should never have run away from home. Look at you now, Miss Lucy. Your guild is being destroyed, and it's all your fault."

That was their plan, then, was it? Not that it would do them much good. As far as he was aware, Lucy gave no money to Fairy Tail. She couldn't possibly – she struggled for money more than anyone else he knew. All Jose would achieve with this would be to anger Fairy Tail even more.

But… what if that was what it took to end this fight? Whatever complicated relationship there was between Lucy and her father, he was in a unique position to deal with it without having to involve Lucy at all. If he could negotiate a solution on her behalf, she wouldn't have to deal with her father's actions, or have to confront the rest of the guild with her secret. He could protect her, and at the same time, he could protect Fairy Tail.

"So, what now?" growled Gray. "You're just going to hand me over, and put an end to this?"

"End it?" Jose wore an expression of mock horror. "Whatever gave you that idea? I've finally got the fight with Fairy Tail I've always wanted, and what's more, I'm winning it easily. Why would I ever want to call it off and allow you to recover? Your Master fell without a fight, and my underlings are mopping up the rest of your guild as we speak. Oh, I'm sorry, hadn't you heard? You'll have no choice but to return to your father, since there will be no Fairy Tail left to speak of once we're through with you."

Gray gritted his teeth. He'd heard enough. He had to get back and help his guild, but how? Could he escape from here? There was the window – he knew he was high up, but he could deal with that. The difficult part would be getting past Jose. Lucy would probably have pulled some clever trick, but he wasn't her. He had always been reliant on his magic, and now all he had on his side was the element of surprise.

"And don't think you'll be getting away lightly, either." Having mistaken Gray's silence for worry, Jose grinned. "I was going to hand you over to your father, but he's only offering a mere hundred thousand jewels for your return. Now that I've seen you, I think you're worth so much more than that. I'm sure he wouldn't want anything to happen to that pretty little face of yours… and after all, Jude Heartfilia can afford to pay an awful lot more for the safe return of his only- hey!"

Gray was crying. Or, at least, he was trying to look like he was, and it seemed to have startled Jose. He hadn't cried properly since the day Ur had died, and the women around him – stoic Erza, or the ever-smiling Mirajane – hadn't given him much to work with. But Lucy – Lucy was always crying. She cried with pain, whenever someone she cared about was hurt; she cried with relief, whenever things seemed bad but everyone somehow pulled through unharmed. She would probably cry with anxiety if she knew he knew his secret, fearing the worst, even though he could have told her with certainty that Fairy Tail would always accept her, regardless of where she had come from. Lucy cried because she was kind, and if it was to protect her, then Gray could do this. Pride didn't even come into it.

Jose sidled closer. He had no fear of this weeping girl. "And I almost thought you were a lady," he smirked. "You don't care about your guild at all, but as soon as your own life is in danger-"

"Shut up!" Gray yelled, and he delivered a swift kick to Jose's crotch. "Lucy's a valued member of Fairy Tail, and she'd never give in to the likes of you!"

Jose let out an unintelligible moan, rolling around on the floor in agony. Gray had more to say, but if his opponent regained the ability to use magic, he'd be in trouble. "Screw you!" he went with, and then he ran. Three steps brought him to the wide arch; he didn't hesitate even once. The chill wind rose around him as he threw himself out into the void.

He had been right – he _was_ high up. The very top of a tall tower, as he had thought, protruding up from a long-abandoned village of small huts which clustered together at the foot of the grand building. As he began to pick up speed, Gray smiled, and placed his right fist against his left palm in the familiar stance. "Ice Make: Slide!"

And then: "Oops."

* * *

"What the hell is with this place?" Natsu demanded, of no one in particular. "There's no one here!"

He stamped his foot on the ground a few times, but with no one else around to sympathize with his tantrum, he gave up, drawing himself up to his full height and putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket in an attempt to mimic Loke. A chill wind blew the fur of his hood around his face, and he narrowed his eyes.

Apart from that wind, there was only silence. The settlement spread out before him had clearly been abandoned long ago. Mud huts and crumbled stone walls were scattered forlornly at the foot of a castle-like structure, the only building untouched by age. Its single tower loomed over the town like an evil sentinel. It was a sorrowful sight, but for Natsu it was even worse – years of neglect had not even managed to do to this town what one fateful night had done to his beloved guildhall.

Natsu's fist clenched. If that girl had lied to him about the location of Phantom Lord's headquarters, he would track her down, and there would be hell to pay.

With one eye always on the lookout for danger, Natsu began to make his way through the deserted village. There were no signs of life – there was no smell to this place except that of age; no colour but that of the sun-bleached stone. The only sounds were those he brought with him: footsteps he wished could be quieter, but Loke's boots didn't lend themselves well to stealth; slow breaths, tasting the dust on the air for any sense of danger. If a battle between guilds had taken place here, it had been in another age entirely. Now there were only the rats and the spiders to watch him warily from their hidden dens.

Oh, and there was also the occasional falling Celestial Spirit mage.

An unearthly shriek alerted Natsu to the presence of another living being. He pinpointed the sound immediately as coming from the top of the tower and picked up speed, not caring whether the speaker was a friend or a foe. Someone was here, after all – perhaps it wasn't that unusual for Phantom Lord to make their base in a deserted castle – and he _really_ hoped it was someone from that guild, so that he could take his annoyance out on an enemy he had finally found after travelling all this way by foot.

His next glance upwards wiped that thought straight out of his head. There was Lucy, falling from the top of the tower.

He had to help her. How he would do so without magic didn't even enter into the equation; for his teammate, he would make it possible. He ran, faster than Loke's body had ever run before; pushed to its limits; crying out her name; leaping high with no thought for his own safety; praying his body wouldn't do _that_ thing again – and he clutched her slim form tightly in his arms as they blasted straight through a stone wall and kept falling.

A wooden roof and a tiled floor weren't enough to stop their meteoric descent. Natsu took the worst of the fall damage, protecting Lucy as best he could as they powered through the ground down into the basement and finally came to a stop in the dark.

Natsu lay there for a while, spread-eagled, completely dazed. He didn't know if he could move. He was still conscious, and that was a good sign, but to have taken damage like that with absolutely no magic power to reinforce his body with… well, at least Lucy was alright. That was the important thing.

She had rolled off him and jumped to her feet almost immediately, and now she stood blinking up at the jagged circle of light in the roof that they had entered by, her arms folded. "Natsu? Don't expect me to thank you. I had the entire situation under control."

"What? _Gray?_ I ran all the way over here, just to save _you?_ If I'd known it was you, I wouldn't have bothered."

They glared at each other, and then Gray smiled. "You really are stupid, aren't you?" he said, but there was a wry gratitude in his voice.

"Shut up. You're the one who decided to jump out of a tower."

"Which I would never have been in, if you hadn't disappeared and made me go looking for you." The argument might have gone on for a while, but Gray's attention was rapidly drawn back to that circle of light, their only way out of the basement. "Natsu, can you stand? Fairy Tail's in trouble and we need to get back."

"Yeah," grunted Natsu. There was no doubt about it – he _would_ stand. He wouldn't show any weakness in front of his rival. Slowly, and with increasing confidence, he levered himself to his feet. It hurt, but it wasn't serious enough to stop him from moving – or from fighting.

Gray nodded approvingly. "Good. Here, give me a leg up. I think we can get out of here."

* * *

The bolt of lightning that was Laxus struck Gajeel a solid blow to his side, lifting him up and carrying him across the hall. Halfway through their arc of flight, Laxus's magic failed and he reverted back to his physical form, but that wouldn't stop him. He had surprise on his side, and superior strength; he grappled the Iron Dragon Slayer in mid-air and drove him down towards the earth. They hit the floor with Laxus on top and slid the rest of the way along the ground, churning up the floorboards and carving a swathe of destruction across the battlefield.

"You-" Gajeel began to howl.

Laxus's eyes blazed. "Lightning Dragon's-"

But he never finished. At that moment there was a thunderous crash, powerful enough to temporarily silence the raging battle. A single crack crept its way along the ceiling. Dust rained down upon the frozen combatants.

A second explosion came from the room overhead. One crack became hundreds, and then there was no ceiling at all but an avalanche of stone, bombarding them from above.

And amidst the falling rocks there was a body: Makarov's. Mira. The members of Phantom Lord began to cheer, surging forward with renewed vigour. Their Master had triumphed over Makarov; the battle was as good as won.

It was then that Fairy Tail began to fully comprehend the futility of this fight. They were powerless and broken; their hope was shattered. No longer were they the strongest guild of all. It was over. Fairy Tail had lost.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Trying to get across how Mira is feeling in her monologue without going round in circles was really difficult. It's not that she doesn't believe in Laxus per se, but that she doesn't believe in herself, so by extension, she doesn't believe in the her who believed in Laxus back in chapter 1. Agh. It would probably make sense to Kamina. Still, there's a long way to go yet on her storyline so with any luck it will make sense by the end. __Both other storylines here - Gray knowing Lucy's past, and the attack on Phantom Lord's guildhall - will come to a head next chapter, so I don't really have much to say about either of them at this point._ _For now, I'll just say thanks once again for reading! ~CS_


	4. The Warmth of Another's Hand

_**A/N:** Chapter Four. In which it takes me several thousand words to cover a scene that takes about 30 seconds of footage in the anime. Because that's just how I roll. And also because this style of fighting is going to become incredibly important later on, when people with little or no magic have to go up against seriously strong opponents. Enjoy! ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Four: The Warmth of Another's Hand**

Though Erza couldn't see the chaos, she could feel it. Fairy Tail's defeat was in the air, from the cries of despair to the fizzling out of half-cast spells and the vanishing magic power she felt from her side of the battlefield. She had seen the ceiling cave in; though she had not been witness to Mira's fall, she had worked out what was going on easily enough. Nothing could crush the spirit of Fairy Tail quite like seeing their Master defeated. If it was Mira, rather than their temporary Master Laxus or even their true Master Makarov, it was no consolation – rather, it was just another painful reminder of how far their beloved guild had fallen.

The whole endeavour had been hopeless from the start. Erza should have known that, and counselled the guild, like Mira had done, against recklessly taking revenge. But she hadn't. She had done nothing, and she was still doing nothing. Fairy Tail had lost the battle and she hadn't done a single thing to help.

But, even so… how could she give up now? The battle was lost, but it was far from over. With Phantom Lord rallying, Fairy Tail's forces would suffer horrendous damage if they tried to keep fighting, but neither would their enemies just let them turn tail and flee. The guild still needed protecting. She couldn't give up on her guild – not for a single crushing defeat nor for the crippling grasp of Changeling. If she did, she didn't deserve to call herself a Fairy Tail mage.

She remembered how easily she had been able to convey messages across the battlefield earlier. If she could Requip as usual, she could have held off the entire of Phantom Lord for long enough for her friends to retreat, but that was no longer an option. What she could do, however, was enable communication. In fact, she was as uniquely placed to do that now as Titania would have been to cover their retreat. Could she do this? For the first time since her magic and her pride had been taken from her, she felt the stirrings of hope in her heart. She wouldn't let her friends down.

First, Erza needed to see. Being on the floor in the middle of the melee was bad enough, but being a cat made seeing the big picture impossible. Happy could have flown above the crowd, but though she had his body, she didn't have even that meagre amount of magic power any more. She was so weak…

She gave her head a quick shake to clear it. She couldn't think like that now. She had to be pragmatic. So, she couldn't summon Happy's wings, but she was still a cat. And cats could climb, right?

All around the great hall were thin wooden pillars, holding up a dense network of rafters and crossed beams which stretched up to the roof. That was where Gajeel had been lurking earlier, so she knew they were sound. Granted, most of the pillars had now been pushed over by stray magic, and since the roof had caved in, not a single one of the horizontal beams above was fully intact. It wouldn't provide her with a complete walkway, but that wasn't enough to crush her newfound spirit. There were places where she could stand and observe, at least.

As before, no one tried to stop her as she ran towards the nearest unbroken pillar. The Phantom Lord mages were far too busy trying to break through the failing defences of their opponents and draw blood to notice one lone cat racing through the destruction. She had never seen Happy climb before – he had no need for something so mundane – but she had the willpower. She tested out her claws on the floor and was pleasantly surprised by how well they sank into the slick wood. Without further hesitation, she hurled herself at the pillar.

On her second attempt, she made it to the top. Panting heavily, and trying to ignore the thick splinters that had penetrated into her feet, she crawled along the nearest horizontal beam and gazed down upon the battlefield.

The difference was astounding. From here, she could see everything. What had been invisible from the ground was as clear as day from just a few metres higher. _Laxus has pushed too far forward_ , Erza understood, without even actively having to think about it. _He's let them isolate him. If Macao turned to his right, he could flank Bisca's opponent, but he hasn't even noticed her battle. Laki needs to move backwards, to keep the route to the exit open…_

While fighting, dodging, and hurling magic around, people changed positions without even realizing it, aware only of their immediate surroundings and completely ignorant of the bigger picture. The arrowhead formation had only taken a few minutes to break down completely; Fairy Tail's mages had long since been scattered and surrounded by Phantom Lord's superior numbers. From her vantage point, Erza began to understand why that was.

She, Natsu, Gray – like most mages, they were used to fighting one-on-one. That was how they trained; that was how they fought and defeated most of their opponents. In single combat, or even in paired battles, it wasn't necessary to be aware of other people. All your attention had to be focussed on your opponent – if it wasn't, they would break through your defence in a heartbeat. Provided you understood their magic, and knew your immediate environment well enough that you wouldn't be caught out, nothing but you and your opponent had any meaning. That was how magical battles were fought: as intimate and personal dances of respect and of passion.

Conversely, in a large-scale battle such as this, the results of individual matches like those were almost irrelevant. The matchups weren't predetermined – with good positioning, spatial awareness, and a willingness to retreat and rotate, any enemy could be made to fight against any member of your team. Careful planning could force your opponents into fights where their type of magic would put them at a disadvantage. Honour was a weakness here, where only the effective use of allies could determine victory. Superior magic power or even better techniques wouldn't guarantee a victory when any S-Class Mage could be surrounded and overcome by weaker but well-coordinated opponents in an instant. And then there were sneak attacks, traps, luring in and isolating enemies, forcing them into weaker positions, keeping communication channels – and above all, the escape route – open at all times…

From a single change of perspective, Erza understood all of this immediately: wars fought between guilds wouldn't be won or lost by the power of one individual.

They had relied too much on Laxus's strength, and that was why they had been defeated so easily. Fairy Tail was united in spirit, but not at all in action. Though they professed to be one huge team, they were utterly uncoordinated. They couldn't win like this – no, as they were, they wouldn't even make it out of Phantom Lord's guildhall in one piece. A complete upheaval of strategy was required. Now that the ability to fight as an individual had been stripped from her, Erza could see this as no one else could.

And furthermore, she could see exactly what needed to be done. Her sharp vision picked out all her allies in the brawl, assessing their positions and opponents, as well as how much magic power they had been keeping in reserve. In her mind's eye, with the acuity of a strategist, it was all becoming clear. Routes seemed to unfold before her: Cana to fall back behind Max, who still seemed to have a decent store of energy in reserve, from the fight he was putting up. The two enemies by the enormous gap in the wall through which they had entered – Elfman to lure them to the right, and Alzack to take them out, clearing them a path out of the guildhall. Happy to draw Gajeel's focus away from Laxus. Reedus to draw in a barrier at exactly that position there, giving Lucy and Loke free passage from their isolated position back to the entrance. And if they could get Wakaba to a slightly central position, his Smoke Magic could provide them with enough cover to pull this whole endeavour off.

Holding all these pieces of information in her mind at once was nothing to Erza. Envisioning the routes of retreat, and how their enemies would move in response, was no different to holding the routes of all her Heaven's Wheel swords in her head while executing Blumenblatt. The problem, of course, was that the swords she Requipped could be moved by telekinesis – her fellow guild members, less so. Still, she had not come so far just to give up. If, by carrying out this plan, she had the chance of saving just one of her friends, then she would do all she could to make it a reality.

Erza half-scampered, half-fell down the pillar without a trace of fear, not stopping until all her paws were back on solid ground. She clung to her half-formed plan of retreat, hoping that the others could just hold their positions for long enough for her to enact it. This was for the future and survival of Fairy Tail.

It was much more difficult to navigate back through the sea of legs than she had anticipated. Gritting her teeth, she glanced around for the tell-tale flashes of light which marked Laxus's position. It took longer than she was expecting for such a marker to appear. Every nervous second that they could not afford to spare felt like an hour. Just as she was about to give up hope, the bright golden burst of lightning magic rose above the crowd, and she headed towards it eagerly.

She broke through the circle into Laxus's combat space just in time to see a pulse of electricity drive Gajeel back into a wall. Fairy Tail's temporary leader was stood with both hands thrust out in front of him, sweat thick on his forehead. His breathing was unhealthily shallow. She could hardly sense any magic power coming from him at all. Even he couldn't hold out for much longer.

"Laxus!" Erza called out in her most commanding voice, hoping to attract his attention. He glanced over in her direction, his expression becoming a scowl as he saw her. She wasn't put off. "We have to retreat! Now!"

"Don't order me around!" he snapped back. "You-!" A bolt of enraged lightning sprung from his outstretched palm; it got halfway to the cat and faded into nothing, the remains of his magic power failing him. Laxus curled his hand into a fist.

Erza, who hadn't flinched, narrowed her eyes. Just as Laxus was one of the only people in the guild who wasn't intimidated by her, she wasn't afraid to stand up to him either, regardless of how weak Changeling had left her. "Do you want to die as well as lose?" she retorted, losing patience. "The lives of everyone in Fairy Tail will be at stake here if we don't retreat, even yours! Surely you have a desire to save your own skin, even if you don't care about anyone else in _your_ guild!"

Laxus's expression became thunderous. Erza ignored it. "I have a plan to get us all out of here. Hold Gajeel here for as long as you can to buy us time. If you have to move, fall back slowly towards the breach we entered by, but don't make it obvious that that's what you're doing!"

Others were gathering around her now, drawn by Erza's defiant stand. It was Happy's voice that spoke, but Titania's spirit that they responded to. They hung at the edge of her vision, waiting for their temporary leader's response. Laxus shot them an angry glare, then looked at Gajeel, as the Iron Dragon Slayer pushed himself to his feet for the next round of their battle. "Fine," he spat. "Fairy Tail will retreat. If you've got a plan, then use it already."

Wasting no time, Erza immediately began issuing commands to those within earshot. "Alzack, you're with me. Loke, switch with Elfman, and you head to the exit. Lucy, find Reedus and bring him to me, but _be careful_."

They scattered at once to carry out her orders. She, Alzack and Elfman headed to the breach in the wall, where they had foolishly broken into Phantom Lord's base. Two enemy mages were there fighting Happy, who had somehow managed to Requip her Heaven's Wheel Armour and was even now holding them off with a sword in one hand and a fishing rod in the other.

Erza said, "Elfman!"

"Got it!" He drew two of Cana's magic cards at random and threw them towards the mages, his fingers crossed. To their good fortune, he managed to activate some kind of magic; one of the thrown cards emitted a brief flash of light. Though it seemed to have no damaging effect, it dazzled the enemies for long enough for Alzack to get into position and take out both of them from behind.

That was the first obstacle down. Their escape route was, in the immediate vicinity, clear of enemies.

Working together, Happy and Elfman managed to overturn one of the few intact tables and drag it towards the exit. It would provide a barrier for Alzack to take cover behind. From there, he could shoot approaching enemies and keep the exit open – for as long as his magic power held out, anyway. Elfman joined him, ready to provide ranged support with as many of Cana's cards as he could get to activate for him.

Erza glanced outside, where it had started to rain. It was a fitting atmosphere for Fairy Tail's first proper defeat. She wanted nothing more than to be outside in the freely-blowing wind.

"Erza? You have a plan, right?" It was Happy.

She tore her eyes away from the melancholy rain. "We need to pull those who have been isolated into the middle of the group, form a ring around the exit, and withdraw as one. Come with me!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy chirped, as they began to run. "Say, Erza, tell me a cool armour to Requip into!"

"I thought I told you to stop trying to Requip!"

"But I wanted to be useful to you!"

Erza growled, but relented. "Fine. Try… Adamantine Armour. Defensive magic is what we need right now."

No sooner had the words left her mouth than she began to regret it. She averted her eyes in pain as Happy Requipped, and only looked back when he prompted her, confused. He hadn't managed to get the Adamantine Armour, but at least he wasn't back in a swimsuit.

"That's my Giant's Armour," sighed Erza. "No, wait, that just might work. Happy, throw me to the far left hand corner of the room."

He blinked at her. "Are you sure? I think I'd be better off throwing the spear…"

"Just do it!" She jumped up onto his palm. "And then head over there, where Max and Macao are. Tell them the plan – fall back slowly, onto the path I told you, got it?"

"Aye!" With the magic of the Giant's Armour, Happy flung her across the room. She sailed over the heads of the surprised combatants and landed miraculously on her feet – that was another advantage of being a cat, she supposed. She collected the exhausted Fairy Tail mages there; with Bisca's help, she managed to get them back into the pack – back towards the horseshoe that their allies were forming.

Now that the strategy had been set in motion, word spread quickly between the members of Fairy Tail. They fell back into the formation she had devised, those who had strength remaining protecting those who did not; moving with one mind no longer for their own sake, or to fight and defeat as many opponents as possible, but to protect what remained of their guild.

While they moved, Erza sprinted for the nearest pillar, gashing her paws open in her haste to scale it and not even registering the pain. It was working far better than she could have hoped. By working together, Fairy Tail had brought order into the chaos of the free-for-all, and Phantom Lord were none the wiser.

From here, she could see it clearly. Fairy Tail had pulled themselves into a horseshoe surrounding the exit, a single half-circumference of mages with their backs to the breach in the wall. Alzack and Elfman had managed to clear out the enemies within the horseshoe with the last of their magic power, not only eliminating any threat to the wall of mages from behind, but also opening the path outside into the rain and the freedom. With no need to watch their backs, the Fairy Tail warriors could more effectively combine their magic, and aid those to their left and right. Slowly but surely, they were withdrawing backwards towards the exit.

Even Laxus had been following her lead, letting Gajeel push him slowly backwards. To Erza, that was the most surprising thing. Of course, he wasn't watching what any of his teammates were doing; when they had increased the pace of their retreat, he hadn't noticed, and was once again isolated from the others. But before she could come up with a counter-plan, a wall created from Reedus's Pict Magic sprung into existence between the two Dragon Slayers.

It took Gajeel only a moment to smash through it, but it was enough for Laxus to get the message. He fell into place between Lucy and Bisca, the latter covering for him while he caught his breath – and then the entire guild, as one, was retreating.

 _She had done it_.

Erza's heart fluttered in her chest. She had actually done it. Victory in combat was nothing new to her, but this was different. When her own legendary power had been stripped from her, she had still managed to protect everyone. Carrying out the plan had been chaos. Most of the time she hadn't known what was going on, acting only on instinct and memory and prayer; the fact that they had managed to get into formation at all was more the result of luck than of any coordinating skill on her behalf. But still, they were going to get out of here: beaten but not broken; injured, but without a single severe casualty. She had managed to achieve something – not as Titania, but as Happy; as the person she had been forced to become. She wasn't beaten. She wasn't powerless. Changeling didn't have to be the end of her – she could still protect her friends when they needed her, and that was all that mattered.

But she could celebrate later. For now, she needed to re-join her guild. She returned to the ground and began to race towards her teammates, marvelling at how their enemies still paid her no heed. In face of their ignorance towards what she had accomplished she couldn't help smiling, probably for the first time since Changeling had done its best to break her spirit. Here she was, running back into the arms of the guild she had protected, with the sunlight on her back and the howls of her frustrated enemies in her ears.

Wait a minute. _Sunlight?_

The sudden thought disrupted her concentration; she skidded to a halt in alarm. But she wasn't wrong. From where she was stood, she could look right up through the holes in the ceiling to the cloudless blue sky above. Yet, turning her gaze back to the retreating Fairy Tail, she could see nothing but falling rain behind them. How could it be sunny here, and raining only a few metres away?

And then it hit her. She had been so focussed on her success that she hadn't even stopped to think about its consequences. She was no strategist, after all. When she had been planning, she had thought only about the immediate situation. Everything she had scorned the individual fighters for doing, she had also been doing herself – she hadn't thought outside the box.

No, more than that. She had forgotten the vital information the others had given her about the absent members of Phantom Lord's Element 4. It hadn't even occurred to her that they might return to reinforce their guild.

Even as she ran towards her friends, screaming a warning, two figures appeared in Fairy Tail's path. At this point, beaten to within inches of their breaking point, even two non-mages would have been enough to devastate Fairy Tail, let alone two S-Class enemies.

Sol and Juvia in front of them. Gajeel and the rest of Phantom Lord behind. Erza hadn't saved anyone. She had led them all to the slaughter.

"Non, non, non!" Sol cried out enthusiastically. Clapping his hands together, he raised a wall of earth behind him, filling in the breach and blocking Fairy Tail's only escape route.

While they looked on in dismay, Juvia raised her pink umbrella, her eyes as cold as ice. "Water Slicer!" Blades of pressurized water tore through the air towards them. Some people dodged. Others didn't have the strength.

Erza was frozen to the spot. She might not have seen the blade heading straight towards her. She might not have cared about it even if she had. Her eyes were wide and unseeing, and she continued to display no reaction even when Lucy threw herself in front of her. The pressurized water broke apart against the muscled arm Lucy raised defensively, knocking her backwards a pace or two, but she remained on her feet. "What now, Erza?" the girl cried in desperation. "You've got a plan, right? Erza!"

If Erza did have a plan, it was lost somewhere in whichever mental world of despair currently held her in its crushing grasp.

All of a sudden, the stone wall Sol had created exploded outwards. Caught by surprise, Juvia and Sol were thrown aside by the force of it, their magic dissipating. Someone else had joined the battle.

The newcomer stood silently amidst the shower of debris. His entire body was covered in thick dark-coloured robes, and bandages swathed his arms and legs. The only parts of him that were at all visible were his eyes, surveying the scene from between a dark blue bandana pulled low over his face, and the green cloth concealing his nose and mouth.

Given that he had just intruded upon a vicious battle, the stranger seemed completely at ease. A single staff was planted in the ground in front of him, upon which both his hands rested; more staves of various arcane designs were strapped to his back.

"Who's that?" Lucy cried out.

"Another enemy?" That was Loke, moving closer towards Lucy, as if to protect her.

Cana murmured, "…Mystogan?"

Not an enemy after all, but an ally. Their enigmatic and mysterious hero. Fairy Tail's single reinforcement.

Despite being muffled by cloth, Mystogan's voice had a powerful ring to it. "Three-Layered Magic Circle: Mist of Concealment!"

The air around them surged with powerful magic. A thin purple mist wound its way around their feet, growing in substance with every passing second. The weaker members of Phantom Lord, or those who had used up too much of their magic power already, were knocked out straight away, and even those who could resist it found their strength sapped and their movements rendered sluggish as they attempted to unleash the last of their magic upon their escaping opponents.

Within the space of a few heartbeats, the mist between Fairy Tail's formation and their opponents had thickened enough to become completely opaque, cutting them off. Mystogan raised one hand and beckoned to them. It was all the invitation they needed. Decorum forgotten, the mages of Fairy Tail gave up all pretence of defiance and fled from Phantom Lord's ruined guildhall as fast as their feet would carry them.

Only Erza remained unmoved. Lucy shouted her name, but she failed to react. She glanced around for help, and Loke was at her side immediately, seizing Erza by the scruff of her neck and carrying her out.

"Erza!" Happy ran up to them, uncharacteristically anxious. "What about Mira?"

"Mira?" Lucy asked. Then she remembered – Mira, defeated in battle while stalling Master Jose; thrown through the ceiling during the fight. She was probably still in Phantom Lord's guildhall somewhere… unconscious, and completely at their mercy. "We have to get her out of there!"

Several paces ahead of them, Laxus turned his head slightly.

Loke placed his hand on Lucy's shoulder. "We can't. Going back in there is suicide!"

"But we can't leave her behind! Mira-" Lucy protested.

"They won't hurt her," Loke said, as reassuringly as he could. "They think she's Master Makarov, remember? They'll want to keep her as a prisoner. When we've had a chance to recover, we'll-"

He was cut off by an inhuman roar. Laxus charged past him, racing back towards the guildhall, screaming a wordless challenge to the world. With the sheer resilience of a true Fairy Tail mage, he overcame exhaustion with sheer willpower. In mid-step, he found some last reserve of power somewhere and managed to activate his lightning form, disappearing through the mist wall in a blaze of light.

Then he was back, a streak of lightning breaking forth from the maw of darkness. The last of his magic power was truly spent. He was forced back to physical form before he had the chance to slow down. He managed to get one foot on the ground, but his momentum was too great, and he was flung forwards into the earth. Mira was cradled in his powerful arms. He lay there in a smoking crater, too exhausted to move.

"Laxus!" Lucy shouted, concern overriding any distrust she might have held for the arrogant man.

She ran over to him, trying to help him up – only to fall backwards as he shoved her roughly away. "Don't touch me!" he snapped.

Then Mystogan was kneeling by his side. He and Laxus locked eyes; a silent message passed between them. As different as they were, they were the strongest two in Fairy Tail, and to some extent they understood each other. Though Laxus's expression grew no less fierce, he let the other lift the unconscious Mira out of his arms. "Come on," Mystogan said to Loke and Lucy; with one last glance at Laxus, they followed him.

As Mystogan had assessed, Laxus's pride wouldn't allow him to be left behind. Before they had gone more than a few paces, he had forced himself to his feet, and now he stumbled along behind them. They were all going to make it home.

And so Fairy Tail made their graceless escape from Phantom Lord's guildhall. The six of them brought up the rear: Mystogan, carrying a severely-injured Mira; Loke, with an unresponsive Erza in his arms; Lucy, casting the occasional glance over her shoulder to check that Laxus was keeping up – this was Fairy Tail, trailing back to Magnolia with its tail between its legs.

* * *

By the time Natsu and Gray arrived back at the guildhall, an air of melancholy had settled over Fairy Tail. In the ruins of their base, those who had been the least injured in the fight had set up a medical camp for those less fortunate than themselves. Seeing the wreckage of the hall, so full of fond memories, transformed from a place of festivities and of family to a shelter for the wounded was heart-breaking. There was not a single smile that could brighten that place, nor enough laughter in the world to drown out the cries of pain and the tears being bravely suppressed.

Neither of them needed to ask what had happened. Lucy ran up to them as they entered what remained of the great hall and gave them both a tearful hug. She had probably been the only person to notice they were missing from Magnolia. Erza was in no fit state to care about anything; she had left the guild immediately without talking to anyone, and was now sat alone, staring out across the lake. In traditional fashion, Mystogan had almost immediately made himself scarce, as had Loke. Lucy didn't know where Laxus was, and she thought it was probably best that way – it was unlikely that anyone had the patience to deal with him right now.

If there had been one stroke of good luck, it was that Mira had almost completely recovered. She had explained to them upon awakening that the Jose she had found in the upper rooms of the guildhall had merely been a Thought Projection. To her, the most likely explanation was that he feared the consequences of a true battle between two Wizard Saints. When Mira suggested this, Gray cast a sideways glance at Lucy, but stayed quiet for the time being.

Mira told them that the magic which had struck her had been channelled through the Thought Projection from a distance, something which only a mage as powerful as a Wizard Saint could do in the first place, and so it hadn't been strong enough to do any serious damage. She was glad that the real Jose hadn't been there to follow up on her defeat. They had all been lucky on that count. If he had known that the real Makarov had been incapacitated by Changeling, he could have wiped their guild out in an instant. Only with the benefit of hindsight were they able to see just how reckless attacking Phantom Lord under those circumstances had been – and how lucky they were that they had all managed to escape with their lives.

It was clear that Mira felt that responsibility for the calamitous retreat of Fairy Tail lay with her defeat. No sooner had she woken and recounted her story than she was dashing around helping the wounded. She stayed as close to Makarov as possible, tending to him the best she could, but Fairy Tail's true Master hadn't stirred since his failed attempt at a Take Over. They had started this alone, and they would have to finish it that way.

The remainder of Natsu's team did their best to help too, but Lucy felt as if she was just getting in the way with her awkward lack of medical knowledge. The others weren't much better. Natsu was the first to run out of patience, declaring that he was going to go and find Loke and insist the other explain his magic to him so that he could join in the next fight. It wasn't the Dragon Slayer's style to sit around moping anyway.

To Lucy's surprise, almost as soon as Natsu had left them she felt Gray's hand on her arm, gently pulling her aside. "Gray? What's wrong?"

"Lucy." Hearing that word come from her own face in her own voice was an unsettling experience. A worried look crossed his face, uncertain about how to start. Then he glanced away and scowled, and in that instant he looked so familiar that Lucy couldn't help smiling. No one seeing him pull that face could mistake him for anyone else, regardless of whose body he was trapped in. "Look, Lucy, the reason why Natsu and I weren't in Magnolia when you and the others came back was because… well, that idiot ran off to join the fight and I went after him, only I was kidnapped and imprisoned in a tower by Phantom Lord's Master Jose."

Shock flashed across Lucy's face. "Gray!" she exclaimed, in the absence of any better way to express her horror. "How did you escape?"

"I jumped out of a window and landed on a conveniently-placed Natsu," he reported, and was glad to see her smile briefly at the thought.

But no humour could last long in this place of desolation, and Lucy very quickly returned to seriousness. "But why did Jose kidnap you in the first place?"

"He wasn't after me, of course. He was after you."

Was it just his imagination, or did that get a tiny response, quickly hidden? Had she guessed what he was going to say? "Then, why would he kidnap _me?_ "

"He told me it was because you were the heiress of the Heartfilia Konzern."

"…Ah."

"Yeah," Gray agreed quietly.

For a long time, Lucy said nothing. She gazed out of the shattered window, one hand unconsciously playing with the chain around her neck. He waited for as long as she needed him to.

When at last she spoke, she was trying to sound strong, but Gray could sense the tremors in her voice. She was his precious teammate, after all; he could tell when she was fighting back the tears. "Then… I guess I should tell you everything."

She was completely unprepared for Gray's response. He tried to put his hands in his pockets, only to find that there weren't any in the skirt he was currently wearing. Instead, he leaned back casually against the nearest wall, folding his arms and closing his eyes. "Nah."

"…Gray?"

"I don't care," he told her, bluntly. "Who you really are; what you did before you came here. I don't care about any of that. You're Lucy of Fairy Tail, and that's the only thing that matters. It's obvious, isn't it?"

Despite her most valiant efforts, Lucy was fighting a losing battle against her emotions. "But I don't understand. I've been lying to everyone-"

"Lucy!" he overrode her firmly. "How can you have been a member of Fairy Tail for so long and still not understand? _Everyone_ here has secrets. Everyone carries burdens, and it's up to them whether they share them with us or deal with them alone. We all understand that. So what if you've got a super-rich father and you ran away from home? It doesn't change who you are, and it doesn't change what anyone will think of you!"

"But- I-"

"Do you really think the fact that you kept a little thing like that from us will make us reject you? We all have things we're running from." Gray took a deep breath, and ploughed on anyway. "I mean, you know about me. I'm responsible for the death of my teacher; everyone in Fairy Tail knows that, and they've still accepted me, and helped me to move forward! Natsu was raised by a dragon! God only knows where Erza was before she came here, but for weeks after she arrived, she would do nothing but sit on her own and cry. And don't even get me started on Mira and Elfman's trauma! Are you saying that these people won't accept you, because of your past? I mean, no one round here has even seen Mystogan's face, but we trust him, because he's a part of Fairy Tail! You're a part of Fairy Tail too, Lucy, and _nothing_ you can possibly say is going to change that fact."

Gray sighed. "I don't care about what mistakes you've made in the past, or who you were before you came here. What matters to me – to all of us – is that you're Lucy of Fairy Tail. You can tell us about your past when you're ready, or you don't have to tell us at all. No one will think any less of you, whichever you choose to do. And to be perfectly honest, I'm disappointed you'd think so low of Fairy Tail as to imagine that we'd cast you out just because you didn't tell us who your father was."

Lucy was crying freely now. The tears spilled down over her cheeks. "Gray…" she sniffed.

"What?" Had he gone too far? He hadn't meant to make her cry-

Any apology he might have been about to give was abandoned as she flung her arms around him and held onto him so tightly that he couldn't breathe. She wept into his shoulder and he let her, afraid to move unless her tight grip broke something important. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry, Gray…"

"Hey, Lucy," he choked. "You don't have anything to apologize for, you got that?"

"I…" she sniffed.

"Though, having said that, I can't actually breathe here, so if you wouldn't mind-"

"Sorry!" She hastily let go of him, putting some distance between them. Then she frowned, and made a noise somewhere in between a laugh and a sob. "Gray… what happened to your clothes?"

Gray glanced down to find that his automatic stripping habit had finally managed to overcome the resistance of Lucy's tight top. "Ah! Sorry! Sorry!" He flailed around like a fish out of water, not knowing whether to look for the clothes he had unconsciously discarded, or try to shield his – well, Lucy's – modesty.

To his surprise, Lucy wasn't yelling, but laughing. He watched, startled, as she pulled off her own shirt and handed it to him. "Put this on. At least then the two of us will look normal, right?" she grinned. Even though she was shivering slightly from the cold, she was right – this was pretty normal for Fairy Tail. "Though if you dare do that while other people are around, I'll kill you."

"Sorry!"

Tears still glistened in her eyes, but Lucy's smile was genuine, and that was the important thing. "Way to kill the mood, Gray."

"Again, sorry…"

"No, I don't mind. Say, Gray?" She paused; he waited, because he knew it was the right thing to do. "Can I… can I tell you about my father?"

"I just said that you didn't have to do that."

"I know. But _can_ I, though? I mean, if you don't mind listening…"

"Sure." Gray had made up his mind to help Lucy through this as soon as he had learned of her secret, and he was already resolved to see it through to the end. "There's not much we can do to help here, so do you want to go out for a bit?"

* * *

They walked together along the beach for a little while. They never strayed too far from Fairy Tail, but outside in the afternoon sunshine and the gentle breeze, it was easier to put the memory of the guild's crushing defeat aside, and smile once again.

It took Lucy a while to begin talking, but once she did, it all came out in a rush. She told Gray how her mother had also been a Celestial Spirit mage, and Lucy had inherited her keys. After her mother's death, her father had become more and more obsessed with his work, neglecting his daughter. The enormous Heartfilia estate had been a lonely place for a single child, but the members of staff who served there were like a second family to her, and she always had her Spirits. Though her desire to be a mage like her mother had put her at odds with her father, who was only interested in what was best for his business, for most of her youth, she hadn't been too unhappy.

The final straw had come when she had learned of his plans to marry her off to a wealthy businessman in order to further his company's influence. Without saying a word to her father, she ran away from home and came to the guild she had always dreamed of joining: Fairy Tail. She had taken nothing from her father, especially not any money; she truly was dependent on Natsu holding in his destructive tendencies to pay her rent.

"I don't ever want to go back," Lucy confessed. "I love Fairy Tail more than anything. This is far more of a home to me than that estate ever was. But… I also hate that it's my fault that this entire war began. If I wasn't a part of Fairy Tail, none of this would have happened. If I could end this in some way…" She took a deep breath. "Jose only needs to return me to my father, right? I'll turn myself in. That way, we can put an end to this without Fairy Tail having to fight any more."

"Okay, two things, Lucy. First of all, you're not handing yourself over to anyone. I won't let you. And what's more, if you try it, I'll tell everyone else exactly what you told me, and they won't let you go either. You're part of Fairy Tail, and in case you haven't noticed this by now, we _always_ protect our own. Secondly, I don't think you've thought this through." Gray looked at her pointedly, and then indicated himself. "You can try turning yourself in, but no one will believe for a second that you're Lucy Heartfilia."

"Oops," she said, and they both laughed.

"Besides, Phantom Lord were just looking for an excuse to attack us. They wouldn't break off the fight just because you went back to your father. Jose told me so himself."

Lucy looked up to the sky, unusually sombre. "But we can't go on like this. You weren't there in that battle, Gray. You didn't see Erza, or Laxus, or…"

"I know." He had seen Erza's depression return with a vengeance since the retreat, and though he didn't know the details, anything that could affect her like that must have been a harrowing experience. "If only we could undo Changeling, we might actually stand a chance."

Then he froze. A wave broke over his feet; he appeared not to notice. "That reminds me. Lucy – Jet and Droy told me they'd somehow managed to switch back from Changeling!"

She rounded on him eagerly, eyes wide. "How?" she demanded, already thinking about how great it would be to be herself again.

"They don't know. They said it just happened when they were fighting Gajeel, and they don't remember doing anything special that triggered it. Since they were both drifting in and out of consciousness, and they're still a long way from full recovery, I wasn't about to start interrogating them. But… I do know that they were fighting together when it happened, and probably trying to use each other's magic. I think that if we fight again, we should do so together… just be in the same place, that's all. It's the only clue we have."

"Actually, I was thinking about that," Lucy added. "Since you can open the Gate to the Spirit World, and I have contracts with the Spirits, I think we'd be able to summon one through if we tried using Celestial Magic together."

Gray was sceptical, but Lucy was insistent that they try it. Since he had upset her earlier, he felt as if he owed it to her to give it a go. At least no one else was around to see him make a fool of himself. It would have been a lot harder to go through with it if Natsu had been there watching, but if it was just Lucy, he could do this for her.

He handed her the ring of keys she usually kept on her belt, and she turned through them thoughtfully, trying to decide where to start. "Let's go with Taurus," she mused. "I imagine he'd be happy to help out anyone with my body…"

"Okay," the ice mage said, somewhat nervously. He took the golden key from her and held it out in front of him. There was magic in it, he could feel it, but it was completely alien to him. This was absolutely nothing like Ice Make. That was instinctive and safe; powerful and dependable. The magic of others was… different. Difficult to place. Hard to put his finger on. It was almost impossible to keep the sense of it in his mind for long enough to understand it, let alone to shape it to his will. This was _never_ going to work.

"Then it's _'Gate of the Golden Bull, I open thee! Taurus!'_ Easy, right?"

"…Like this?"

"Hmm… More like… umm." It would be faster just to show him.

Lost in concentration, Gray jumped as Lucy stepped up close behind him, an automatic reaction developed in combat. "Lucy?"

She said nothing, just placed her right hand over his. Her hand was warm. As a user of Ice Magic, the cold didn't bother him, but this was entirely different. It wasn't merely the absence of the lonely cold that he was accustomed to, but the warmth of another human being; another heart, another life, inexplicably connected to his own.

"Like _this!_ " Lucy forced his hand and the key downwards in a smooth arc. Something clicked in Gray's mind. He felt once again that indescribable rush of using magic for the very first time.

"Do it!" she yelled, caught up in the exhilaration of it all. "Do it, Gray! Open the Gate!"

With Lucy's voice and Lucy's magic, and with Lucy's hand holding on tightly to his own, he commanded: "Gate of the Golden Bull, I open thee! _Taurus!_ "

And, incredibly, the ice mage opened a Gate to the Celestial Spirit World.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** If he was anyone else, this is exactly the point where I would start setting up a storyline for Mystogan just like I have for all the other characters. However, as I'm not going as far as Edolas, there's no opportunity to do a Mystogan storyline... basically meaning that he gets to just show up and be awesome without having to go through any of that tragic character development stuff. (Conversely, even though I'm not writing Edolas, I still wanted to write Mystogan a bit, which is why he is a little more sociable here than he is in canon. Also, let's face it, they're a bit screwed without him.)_

 _Also, yes I do ship Gray and Lucy. Well, I did at this point in canon anyway. I tend more towards Natsu and Lucy now but when I was first watching these early arcs I was very much a fan of Gray and Lucy, and Changeling gave me a good opportunity to run with that for a bit. Not that there's going to be any actual romance in this story, so it doesn't really matter, but there you go._

 _Anyway, thanks for reading! ~CS_


	5. For the Sake of Our Own Pride

_**A/N:** Fifth chapter. It's getting serious now. Enjoy! ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Five: For the Sake of Our Own Pride**

Gray lay on his back in the sand, exhausted. He had opened and closed so many Gates between worlds that his magic power was almost completely spent, but even that level of fatigue couldn't shake his elation. He had used someone else's magic, and how many other people had ever been able to achieve that? And he was confident that it was the first step on the road to undoing Changeling. Now that he could use some form of magic again, however different it was to what he was used to, there had to be a way of overcoming the curse.

For the time being, though, he was content to just lie there in the warmth of the sun, as if their success had somehow separated them from the problems facing the guild. It was easier to be optimistic here.

"I can't believe we actually did it!" Lucy sounded just as pleased as Gray felt. She sat down beside him on the sand, and he pushed himself reluctantly into a sitting position.

"This? This is nothing for me," Gray breezed. He handed the ring of gold and silver keys back to her. "Was that the last of your Spirits? What about your strongest one, Aquarius?"

Lucy shuddered. "Let's not summon Aquarius…"

Gray laughed. At least Lucy's other Spirits had been sympathetic to their plight. They had managed to negotiate temporary contracts with them all: if Gray was able to summon one of them without Lucy's help, they would treat him as their master until they managed to undo Changeling. At last, he could join the fight against Phantom Lord! No more being put on guard duty; Gray Fullbuster was back in action-

Ignorant of his internal victory speech, Lucy queried, "So, will you show me how to Ice Make?"

Gray stared at her. When Lucy seemed serious, he prompted, "You're kidding, right?"

"No? Why would I be?" She looked at him, confused. "I thought that was the plan. I'd show you how to summon Celestial Spirits, and you'd teach me some of your Ice Make. Right?"

"I can't just… _teach you some Ice Make_ ," Gray echoed. Bewilderment laced his voice; he still wasn't sure whether or not to take her seriously.

"Why not?"

"Because… it's not just some simple magic, Lucy, it's… a way of life!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's…" He struggled to put his feelings into words. "It's _complicated!_ It's as much a tradition and a lifestyle as it is a kind of magic. You can't just _learn_ it, because there's so much more to it than just throwing ice around or anything stupid like that. I spent my entire childhood studying Ice Make under Ur; it's a unique way of seeing the world that's passed down from teacher to pupil through bonds stronger than family! It's... special. It's my life. It's precious to me; to all its users. It's not something trivial that you can pick up in an hour!"

"…And my magic is?"

"Well, yes." Gray was utterly baffled. "It's not like you spent most of your early life in training, trying to understand the finer points of a difficult magic from a teacher who devoted her entire life to raising you-"

"So my magic is unimportant? Is that it?"

"That's not what I'm saying! You're not unimportant, I've never thought that, but Ice Make is just completely different to anything you've ever done. You can't just _learn_ it like that. It's not how it works, and what's more, it _shouldn't_ be how it works. I don't understand why you're so upset about it-"

"No, _I_ don't understand, Gray! I'm not trying to come in between you and Ur's memory, or intrude on your _sacred way of life!_ I just want to be able to help Fairy Tail – you understand that, don't you? I'm tired of being useless without any magic and I just want to be able to protect my friends! What about everything you said earlier – what about me being a part of Fairy Tail? What does it matter, if you won't even overlook one stupid rule to help me-?"

"A _stupid rule?_ " The world seemed to have fallen silent. Gray was on his feet now; if he had still been an ice mage, the magic power emanating from him in his fury would have been enough to freeze the ground solid. "You'd ask me to betray Ur's memory, and everything she taught me?"

Lucy had never before felt scared of a friend. She took a step backwards, with one hand clenched around Gray's medallion as if to somehow ward off the danger. "Gray, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"She means more to me than any of you ever will!" Gray yelled, and he turned on his heel and fled in the direction of the town.

Eyes wide, she watched him go. "Gray…"

* * *

Lucy returned to Fairy Tail. The guild had posted sentries. Bisca, who had been stationed at the back entrance of the guildhall, keeping a lookout over the water for any sign of approaching danger, greeted her as she entered the wreckage of the building. From her vantage point, she had probably been able to see and hear the entire argument with Gray, but she didn't bring it up. She just continued to watch for a Phantom Lord attack. Fairy Tail had never felt less like home.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried, striding through the makeshift camp. "Natsu, are you here?"

There was no response from her teammate, but she did run into Happy. After three swimsuits, two Empress Armours and a sailor uniform, he had finally managed to Requip some normal clothes, and was now running around the guild carrying medical equipment at Cana's instruction. "Lucy!" he chirped when he saw her, with a broad smile. It seemed as if nothing was enough to bring him down for long.

"Happy, have you seen Natsu anywhere?"

"Nope." He raised his voice helpfully. "Natsu! Where are you?"

"I'm here already, stop shouting," came the disgruntled response. Natsu charged in through the nearest door, already out of breath. "What is it?"

Lucy swallowed. "It's Gray."

"What's that jerk done now-?"

"I said something stupid to him, and he ran away from Fairy Tail," she confessed. "I'm worried about him. Phantom Lord are trying to capture him – well, they're trying to capture me, so… he might be in danger."

"Got it," Natsu grinned. "Then you want to go after him, right?"

"I don't think he'll really want to see me right now. But… he forgot to take the keys with him." She held up the ring of Celestial Spirit keys. They glinted mournfully in the shadows. "He's in no state to defend himself right now. Will you take them to him for me?"

"Sure! And when I find him, I'll definitely make him pay for making you worry!"

"There's no need for that," corrected an exasperated Lucy.

"Heh." He reached out his hand to take the keys from Lucy, but they slipped through his fingers and clattered to the floor. "Oops, sorry!"

Lucy sighed. "Aquarius is going to kill me…"

She bent down to pick them up but Natsu got there first, sweeping them out from underneath her fingers with his other hand. "Sorry, Lucy! Sorry, Aquarius! Come on, Happy!"

"Aye, sir!"

Natsu dashed out of the guild over-enthusiastically with Happy in tow. It was almost like old times again. Lucy watched them run off. They would be okay… wouldn't they?

* * *

Hidden around the nearest corner, Loke had seen the entire exchange. What was more, he had seen what Lucy hadn't. Natsu's body was breaking down… no, _his_ body. He clenched his fist. It was already too late to stop it now. He knew that, but…

He set off after Natsu and Happy at a run. No one saw him leave.

* * *

"Laxus?"

That voice jolted Laxus out of his reverie. He turned his head to look at the newcomer, remembering an instant too late that it wasn't his grandfather after all, but Mira in his body. His look of surprise became a sneer. "What do _you_ want?"

Mira was used to not letting his tone of voice get to her. As always, she smiled. Smiled like it was nothing. "Your grandfather is awake. He's drifting in and out of consciousness, and he hasn't said anything, but-"

"I don't care."

"Alright. I'll see to him."

Laxus returned to gazing out of the window. Nothing stirred in the outside world. Nothing stirred in the inside world, either. The lack of retreating footsteps only raised the level of his irritation. Without turning round, he snapped, "What are you still doing here?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"I'm fine. Don't mistake me for one of your pathetic friends-"

"Only, I heard from the others how you fought no fewer than three S-Class Mages, and not to mention how many others-"

"Didn't you hear me? I'm fine."

"And I wanted to say thank you. For protecting everyone in Fairy Tail. Even if it doesn't mean anything to you-"

"It doesn't."

"I wanted to say it anyway."

"Well, now you have, so you can leave."

Mira gave up and turned to go. Halfway back down the corridor, she paused. Laxus wasn't alright; she knew that. But who did he have in Fairy Tail that he could talk to about it? His past actions hadn't exactly endeared him to his teammates, and even now, he was making no effort to interact with the others.

Still, that didn't change the fact that he was suffering. He had been defeated in battle and forced to retreat for probably the first time in years. That would get to anyone – and _had_ done, given the atmosphere in the rest of the building – but wasn't it especially hard on Laxus? She had finally convinced him to commit to Fairy Tail just as it was about to be destroyed, and forced him into a battle he couldn't possibly win. She couldn't imagine what was going through his mind. But the more he pushed people away, the more certain she became that he needed someone to talk to. If only he would let her be that person-

 _Then maybe she would have confirmation that Laxus was a normal, loving, caring human being after all, and her mistake in allowing him to become Temporary Guild Master would somehow be absolved._

Because that was what she was really worried about, wasn't it? That she alone might have done more damage to Fairy Tail than their enemies ever could-

"Mira!"

Mira jumped visibly. Someone was running down the corridor towards her – Bisca. Her gun was in her hand. "Come quickly," she said. "We've got trouble."

* * *

Phantom Lord was coming.

Their attack didn't come from the land – no, nothing as mundane as that. Marching was reserved for ordinary armies; running to and from guildhalls was the method of transport for weak guilds like Fairy Tail.

Phantom Lord came across the water. And it wasn't just the members of that guild crowded onto a battleship, though that would have been terrifying enough. Phantom Lord had brought their headquarters with them. Or, more accurately, they were travelling _in_ their headquarters.

Their castle-like building was sat atop the same great chunk of earth that it had rested upon when it was still on solid ground, but that enormous rough rock had, in an impressive feat of engineering, grown legs. Six great mechanical limbs brought the building inexorably closer to Fairy Tail, one slow step at a time. The deep water was no match for it. The giant legs just walked straight across the lakebed as easily as if it was dry land.

When the founders of Fairy Tail had positioned the guildhall where they had, they had probably thought that the seemingly-endless lake would provide protection from behind, just in case. As it was, the vast expanse of water worked in their enemies' favour. There was nothing in the way to stop Phantom Lord's march now.

As if Fairy Tail hadn't been demoralized enough already. Now Jose was just showing off.

If there was anything in Fairy Tail's favour, it was that the walking building was slow. It would take some time before they were within attacking range of the guild. They could see their enemies getting steadily closer – they knew exactly how much time they had left. Because it was all they could do, Fairy Tail called a Council of War.

It was a sombre affair. Not wanting to disturb their injured companions currently recovering in the basement, and in the absence of any other intact rooms large enough to hold the rest of the guild, they held their meeting on the plaza outside, in full view of the approaching enemy. Mira had rounded everyone up, except for Laxus, whom she had decided to leave be. Almost everyone else had dragged themselves to the meeting. Even Mystogan was there, listening from the shadows, and Lucy had convinced an apathetic Erza to come over and join in.

"Well," Mira said grimly. "This is it. Fairy Tail's ultimatum: fight, or flee?"

"We can't run." Cana. A tankard of beer sat on the ground beside her, untouched. "We'd never be able to show our faces in Magnolia again."

Elfman's turn. He had the courage to give voice to the truth that everyone was thinking. "We'd have to disband. A Fairy Tail that flees isn't our Fairy Tail. It would be the end of us."

"Maybe that's just it." Macao sighed, with a heavy heart. "Maybe this is the end of Fairy Tail. Changeling, and a guild war – maybe the world is trying to tell us that our time is over. We had a good run, but everything has to end eventually."

"Wait a minute." Silence fell. Lucy looked around with everyone else to see who had spoken, and was surprised to learn that the voice had been her own. She had been expecting those words to come from Natsu or Gray; since neither of them were here to represent the hot-headed, irrepressible side of the guild, her instincts had automatically driven her to fill in for them.

Swallowing, she continued, "Well, since when has Fairy Tail ever given up? When have we ever admitted defeat? I know I haven't been a member of Fairy Tail for very long, but… this isn't the guild that I joined! No matter how strong the enemy, they would keep fighting, for the sake of their friends and for the guild! What would Natsu say if he could see you now, preparing to give up? What about our Master?"

No one could meet her eyes.

No one except Erza. "We have no other option," the little cat said, as despondent as anyone in Fairy Tail had ever been. "We can't possibly fight."

"Yes, we can!" Mira exclaimed. "We can do it like we retreated from Phantom Lord! I've heard all about what you did, Erza, organizing the guild and getting everyone to work together like that! If we can pull that off again and work as one, we can take down opponents far stronger than ourselves!"

"No-" Erza tried.

"We have the home advantage now," Mira reasoned. She glanced over her shoulder; Phantom Lord's base was closing the distance to Magnolia far quicker than she would have liked. "We could set up a defensive formation, lay traps, force them into disadvantageous fights, and work as a team rather than a collection of individuals – this really doesn't have to be the end of our guild. If Erza could come up with another plan like last time-"

"No!" This time, Erza's desperate shout silenced the murmurings in the group. "I can't! It wouldn't change _anything!_ "

"But in the last battle-" Lucy began, only to have the other turn the full force of her gaze towards her. She definitely understood why Natsu and Gray were so scared of Erza, whether as a cat or otherwise.

"In the battle against Phantom Lord, _I failed!_ The plan didn't work! Fighting together _didn't work!_ Don't you understand that? It wasn't any kind of victory! I thought I had everything worked out, and then – then, if Mystogan hadn't arrived when he did, we would all have died. I thought we could win like that, but we can't. It's impossible. There's no way that we can fight."

"Then… you're giving up?" Lucy sounded completely lost. She found herself wishing that Natsu and Gray were there to take her side.

"What else can we do? If we try to fight, we're just putting each other's lives in danger with no chance of victory. We should leave Magnolia, while we still can."

A sudden explosion blasted through the air. A few metres away from the assembled mages, something crashed into the earth, sending up chunks of stone. They could feel the ground tremble from the force of it. In an instant everyone was on their feet, drawing weapons or summoning magic seals. Most turned towards the water, where Phantom Lord were rapidly gaining ground. The handful of mages amongst them who recognized the feeling of that magic turned instead to the ruins of Fairy Tail. Laxus strode out of the wreckage, lightning racing up and down his raised fist.

"Is this really the guild that the old man was so proud of?" he sneered. "Ready to give up and flee at the first sign of danger? And yet you have the nerve to call yourselves Fairy Tail mages?"

Silence had descended upon the assembled crowd at his first scathing word. They shuffled uncomfortably amongst themselves, not wanting to be the one to confront him. Even Mira found that the words she needed to say were stuck in her throat.

Laxus paced amongst the crowd, a wolf in a flock of sheep. Lightning sparked at his fingertips; anger and scorn mingled in his eyes. For someone who had already fought to the point of exhaustion that day, he was emitting a dangerous amount of magical power. Every word was carefully chosen, and coated in ice. "So, you thought you'd call a little strategy meeting without informing _me_ , your Guild Master?"

Macao blurted out, "You're not the true Master of Fairy Tail." Laxus rounded on him instantly; despite himself, the other took a step back. Still, he continued, "Makarov always will be, and you know it."

Others, for the sake of Fairy Tail – and for their own pride, hurt by Laxus's insults – took up the baton.

"You'll never be our true leader."

"How dare you call yourself our Guild Master?"

"You think you're so much better than the rest of us, do you? You don't even know what it means to be a Guild Master!"

"We'll never accept you!"

Mira didn't know which side to take. She supported her guild, but wasn't every word against Laxus, whether the aggressors realized this or not, a word against her? Her doubts about Laxus came back with full force. Lucy was part of the small group who remained indecisive, unable to agree with the actions of either side. Erza stared at the ground, oblivious to everything. Mystogan, as always, stood to the side and said nothing.

In response to the threats, Laxus said nothing for a long time. Then, to everyone's surprise, he smirked. "Then leave," he announced. "Get out of here. If you don't like my Fairy Tail, then go and find yourselves another pathetic guild to join. If you're not going to stand up and fight, then run away like the cowards you are. I have no need for weaklings in my guild."

No one moved. No one dared.

With the members of the guild at his back, Laxus strode forwards and faced Phantom Lord. The walking headquarters was close enough now for them to be able to pick out individual figures moving around on its body. He narrowed his eyes, repeating, "I have no need of those who turn tail at the first sign of adversity."

Uneasiness. Anger. Fear. All these emotions, directed solely towards Laxus. The approaching guild had been all but forgotten by everyone but him. He clenched his fists. "Stay and fight, or abandon the guild. If you leave now, then you leave for good. If you can't fight, then you don't belong in Fairy Tail."

"Everyone, please don't give up." Next to Laxus's arrogance, Mira's gentle plea seemed to ring out like the words of an angel. "We can overcome this if we work together. Erza, I know we can do this-"

Either he didn't realize Mira was siding with him, or Laxus truly didn't care what anyone else thought. "Teamwork? Don't make me laugh. You can't depend on anyone but yourself."

"Fairy Tail-"

"-is weak," Laxus finished, his eyes glittering darkly. "What teamwork are you referring to? The retreat earlier, which led us into a trap like lambs to the slaughter?"

Everyone was too focussed on Laxus to notice the firm set of Erza's mouth tremble, or the faint dampness springing to her eyes.

"What saved Fairy Tail earlier wasn't someone blundering round issuing orders, or even the vague coordination of a bunch of hapless fools. It was the power of one person, who showed up at the right time to save everyone." He glanced over his shoulder at Mystogan, who gave no response, and then turned back to face the lake. "Until you understand that, Fairy Tail will remain a disgrace of a guild. Just watch."

Without warning, Laxus shifted into his lightning form. Mira understood what he was about to do just a moment too late. Running forwards, she reached for him desperately. "Laxus! Don't!"

Her fingers were still inches away from his blazing body when he took off, arcing through the sky almost too quickly for the eye to follow. His destination was obvious: the descent of his parabola was on a collision course with Phantom Lord's headquarters.

Mira wheeled around, looking for someone who could help. "Mystogan! Can you-"

"Let him go."

Everyone in Fairy Tail froze at the sound of that familiar voice. Though spoken with Mira's friendly tones, no one could mistake the gravelly authority in it for a second.

"Master!" Mira cried out in delight, a sentiment that was quickly echoed by everyone else.

Fairy Tail's true Guild Master was looking very much the worse for wear. Still trapped in Mira's body, he was leaning heavily against the doorframe. His legs were shaking; without that support, he would have been unable to stand. Even more alarming, for those who had retained their sensitivity to such things, was the strange magic power he was emitting, which fluctuated erratically in a way that the Changeling curse couldn't account for. Makarov was still a long way from recovery.

But despite his condition, his voice was strong. "If that foolish boy is so intent on getting himself killed, then let him go."

"But Master…"

Makarov's magic power suddenly shot up again; he closed his eyes and clenched his fist as his entire body began shaking. Mira jumped as a figure suddenly placed himself between her and the Master: Mystogan. A stave was in his hand. Belatedly, she realized the danger that Changeling's suppression of her magical senses had hidden from her.

After a moment, the shaking subsided. Mystogan didn't relax his defensive stance. Anxious, Mira gave voice to the worry that all of Fairy Tail shared: "Master, are you alright?"

"No. Not yet." The old man seemed to be muttering to himself, his voice rising in agitation. "Not yet! He's nowhere near ready to become Guild Master! Why was he talking like he already was? He knows I'd never allow it!"

Mira swallowed. "Umm, the thing is-"

She didn't get the chance to finish. Makarov's unstable magic reached a peak once more, and this time, his best efforts weren't enough to contain it. He screamed; a dark magic seal appeared above his head, widening rapidly. Recognition froze everyone in the guild to the spot – even if they had joined the guild too recently to have ever seen Mira's magic first-hand, the terror of the first time Makarov had lost control of the Satan Soul Take Over was still fresh in their minds.

Last time, it had been Laxus who had saved them – this time, it was Mystogan. How he had managed to work out what was going on so quickly no one knew, but almost immediately he had used his raised staff to create his own magic seal, a perfect counter to Makarov's uncontrolled magic. It expanded rapidly under Mystogan's power, outpacing the one Makarov struggled to contain, and with a twist of his staff, the two circles annihilated each other. Makarov lost consciousness once more, and fell forwards into the other's waiting arms.

Mira demanded, "What's going on? Mystogan, do you know?"

"It's hard to say." With the other's face hidden as usual behind a mask, she couldn't tell what he was thinking. "At a guess, I'd say he tried to force too much magic power to manifest when he was unable to use his magic properly, and now it has nowhere to go."

"Then this is going to happen every time he regains consciousness?"

"The excess magic will drain away in time, but until that happens, I imagine that he will continue to be a danger to us."

"Things just keep getting worse and worse…" Mira observed.

"I'll stay with him, for the time being," the enigmatic mage offered.

Mira nodded in thanks, but there was trouble implicit in Mystogan's words. He knew that once Phantom Lord reached shore, he would have to lead the counteroffensive, since Laxus… but Laxus would be alright, wouldn't he? He was the strongest in Fairy Tail, and that was not a title bestowed lightly. Then again, he was also arrogant, reckless and foolish. Mira thought about Makarov's last words and couldn't help but worry.

* * *

"Argh!" There were no words that could do justice to how he was feeling, so Gray went with that expression of frustration instead, and punched the nearest wall. It hurt more than he was expecting. Lucy's fist wasn't used to physical attacks, and her knuckles bruised and tore far too easily.

She was the last thing he wanted to think about right now, but there was just too much to remind him of her – especially since he was stuck in her body. He could run to the ends of the earth and he would never get away from her. His rage got the better of him and he struck the wall again. It didn't hurt any less the second time. Gritting his teeth, he gave up and rested his forehead against the rough bricks, his shoulders rising and falling with every deep breath he took.

He was in the wrong, he knew that. He didn't have the right to be angry at Lucy – but rationality held no place in the turbulence of his emotions. What she had asked of him was simply unthinkable. There were no arguments he could use to justify it, but to his heart, it was the absolute truth. He couldn't just show someone else in an afternoon how to use the magic that Ur had given up the best part of her life to teach him. He just couldn't. If she couldn't understand that, it was her problem… except it wasn't. She was right and he knew it – but that didn't mean he could accept it. That was why he had run. Gray had never run from a fight before; friends were another matter entirely.

 _It's not like it matters anyway_ , he told himself fiercely. Even if Lucy could somehow master Ice Make Magic in a day – which was irrefutably impossible – it wouldn't make a difference against the whole of Phantom Lord. If he had his magic back it would be different, as he prided himself on his strength as an ice mage, but Lucy with minor ice powers would be about as useful as… well, as him with Celestial Spirit Magic. And no keys to use it with. Lost somewhere in the backstreets of Magnolia while his precious guild faced its greatest ever threat.

This time, he somehow managed to suppress the urge to hit the wall. "I have to go back," he muttered to the ancient brickwork, inches away from his face. "I have to go back, and apologize to Lucy, and- who's there?"

The alleyway was empty. Gray was certain he had felt the presence of someone else – so certain that he had spun round on pure instinct to confront them – and that uneasy feeling didn't leave with the apparent absence of any enemies. There were many types of concealing magic, and he was fully aware that his ability to pierce such shrouds had only decreased with the effects of Changeling.

Pressing his back to the wall, he sized up his options: run, or hide. It wasn't looking good.

"Gehehe."

At the unexpected sound, Gray jumped. Not concealment magic after all – he had simply forgotten to look up. Cursing his battle instincts, he threw himself aside in the nick of time as a man dropped like a meteorite into the street below. Gray rolled straight to his feet and glanced around for an opening – since when had his first reaction in a fight been to look for an escape route? – but he found nothing. Though he had never met his opponent before, he knew him on sight: who else could it be but Gajeel, the man who had destroyed his guildhall?

Rage drove him into an Ice Make stance. He knew it was useless, but he felt such burning hatred towards this man. Surely such strong passions could break through the curse of Changeling, and return his magic to him… it had worked for Jet and Droy, hadn't it? Against this very opponent! So why did he have nothing? Why did the magic refuse to come to him; why had everything Ur had given her life to teach him become meaningless?

After the mockery of the battle against Lucy and Loke earlier, Gajeel was not in a good mood. He had no intention of playing around – and besides, he couldn't enjoy a battle that wasn't against a strong opponent. Gray barely had time to dodge as an Iron Dragon's Roar tore up the pavement and ripped chunks from the walls of surrounding houses.

Thinking fast, Gray snatched up a jagged shard of rock as he ran. When Gajeel lunged at him, sweeping the iron sword that his right arm had become towards Gray's head, he ducked underneath it and drove the sharp point of the rock into the Dragon Slayer's chest.

But Gajeel only laughed. The solid rock, with all of Gray's body weight behind it, shattered against the iron scales decorating his chest. No human weapon could match up to the defensive power of a dragon.

Fearlessly Gray followed the strike through, ramming his entire body into Gajeel, hoping to knock him off balance. As himself it might have worked, but in Lucy's slight frame, no matter how much Happy complained about how heavy she was, he simply couldn't raise the momentum he needed. Gajeel threw him off easily, and followed it up with the full force of his Dragon Slayer's breath attack. Gray was unconscious before he hit the ground.

"Is everyone in Fairy Tail this pitiful?" Gajeel growled. Orders were orders, he supposed, but it didn't stop him from resenting his Guild Master for sending him away from the proper fight. He seized Gray by the collar and dragged his limp body away to the rendezvous point.

* * *

Laxus took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes. He stood completely motionless in a shallow, smoking crater, carved into the solid rock upon which Phantom Lord's headquarters stood. The ground hummed with the energy being used to move the mechanical legs; the aggressive motion of its steps shook the moving rock, but he was perfectly still. Alone, he faced towards the building. From the windows and atop the roof, people stared back. No one came forward to fight. Maybe they didn't know what to make of him.

He didn't have as much magic power remaining as he would have liked, but it would do. Golden light blazed into existence around his left hand. This wasn't mere Lightning Magic, nor even the Artificial Dragon Slayer Magic he kept as a close-guarded secret. It was far more powerful than that.

The same light enveloped his right hand also. Now he could sense the unease from the inhabitants of the building in front of him. Surely they would be able to detect the vast amounts of magic power gathering in the air around him, even if they didn't recognize the spell he was invoking. It was, after all, magic belonging only to the Master of Fairy Tail, developed by his predecessors and now come at last into his possession.

He brought his hands together in front of his body. The earth trembled; the sky roared; the light became blinding – all in response to his power. A spiral of gold rose up around him. Shards of rock detached themselves from the ground, falling upwards towards the gathering vortex of storm clouds as if gravity had been reversed.

Laxus's heart pounded erratically, unable to contain the incredible feeling of the magic pouring through him; more than he had ever been able to call forth at once before. He should have done this as soon as the so-called war began. This was it. This was true power. Those fools who dared to call themselves mages of Fairy Tail would never understand it. He didn't need them. Let them run like the cowards they were. He could end this battle all by himself.

Someone flung open the doors of Phantom Lord's hideout. Enemies piled out – the two of the Element 4 he had yet to have the pleasure of annihilating were among them, and their Guild Master himself. The woman dressed in blue fought her way through the storm towards him, trying to form a shield of water against the raw magic power tearing up the air. Jose called her back, panic in his voice. Her magic couldn't stand up to this catastrophic power. The Wizard Saint summoned his own magic into existence, a great dark seal appearing in front of him, but it was too little too late.

Laxus could no longer contain that magic. He no longer had to. Triumphantly, he raised his arms. As the world around him was erased by the blazing light, he proclaimed, " _Fairy Law!_ "

There came the sound of glass smashing, and the light vanished.

No one dared to move. Even the wind had stilled. In the aftermath of the magic, the onlookers watched and could not comprehend what they were seeing, because it made no sense. The magic around Laxus had simply disappeared. His enemies were unharmed; not a stone was out of place from the rock he stood on. The world was exactly the same as it had been before he had called the spell.

Well, all except for Laxus. Whatever had happened, it had affected him badly. His arm was frozen out in front of him, his eyes locked open as wide as they would go. His entire body heaved with the effort of breathing. "Fairy-" he tried again, and then his words were cut off by a great choking gasp. He convulsed and almost fell.

In the stunned silence, Jose's cruel laughter seemed as loud as thunder. "Oh dear," he mocked, before another explosive fit of mirth arrested him. Breathlessly, he gasped, "Is this the best that Fairy Tail has to offer?"

Now that the danger was over, the mechanical fortress lifted one of its mighty legs and took a ponderous step forwards. The march towards Fairy Tail's destruction resumed. Two or three more steps, and it would all be over. They were already close enough for everyone gathered outside the guildhall to have witnessed what happened. Even now they could see Laxus, paralyzed by the recoil of his failed spell.

Fully aware that everyone's attention was upon him, Jose gave a smug smile. "A lone Fairy champion, his magic having failed him, brought low by power he couldn't even control? To think I once considered you a worthy guild to rival my own!"

"You-" Laxus hissed, feeble lightning flickering into existence at his fingertips.

Jose's eyes narrowed. His arm moved quick as a flash; he snapped the words with distaste: "Dead Wave." A purple beam of energy knocked Laxus off his feet. He collapsed to the ground. Though he struggled, Laxus no longer had the strength to push himself to his feet.

One final step brought Phantom Lord's headquarters into position. Jose let out another bark of laughter. Now that victory was within his grasp, all pretence at being a gentleman had gone out the window. He strode forwards and delivered a swift kick to Laxus's prone form. Unable to resist, Laxus whimpered in pain, curling up into a defensive ball. Triumphantly, Jose placed one foot upon his opponent's body and addressed the mages of Fairy Tail.

"Are you watching, Makarov? Do you see the fate of your guild and tremble? How long I have waited for this moment… when I will finally crush you, and settle this battle once and for all!"

The Element 4 had gathered behind him, in a strong show of solidarity with their leader. The fortress itself was shifting, showing the true and terrifying extent of its mechanical nature. A wall on the upper part of the building was drawn aside to reveal the extending metal barrel of a cannon. "But how best to defeat you?" Jose purred. "I wanted you to suffer in despair, so I thought I'd bring this along. Behold, the Magical Convergent Cannon: Jupiter!"

With one hand, Jose picked up Laxus by his collar and hurled him towards Fairy Tail. The ground cracked where he landed, and Laxus didn't get up again. "My Jupiter Cannon possesses more than enough firepower to raze your guild to the ground with a single shot. But, since I'm a generous man, I'll tell you something you might find interesting. The Cannon takes fifteen minutes to fully charge, and in that time, I promise not to lay a finger on anyone from your guild.

"So in return, Fairy Tail, won't you show me? Just how far _can_ you run in fifteen minutes?"

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Man, this chapter was difficult to write. The ones where everything just goes badly for the good guys are always the hardest for me, and especially when it's my favourite character that things are going wrong for. Poor Laxus. It's just not really his day. I had to tweak Fairy Law a bit from canon; the actual reason why it failed is in the next chapter (though it's not exactly difficult to figure out). __Anyway, thanks for reading! ~CS_


	6. With Eyes Full of Light

_**A/N:** The arc's penultimate chapter, and one of my absolute favourites. What do you mean, the final battle against Gajeel isn't a good place to stop taking things seriously? I don't know what you're talking about. ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Six: With Eyes Full of Light**

"Gray? Gray! Where has that imbecile got to?"

Natsu was not happy. He stood at the heart of Magnolia's town centre, bellowing up at the sky. Passers-by went out of their way to avoid him; the owners of the little cafés in the town square glowered at him for scaring away their customers on this bright, profitable afternoon. Unsurprisingly, Natsu was oblivious to all of this. He continued to yell at anyone who would listen, his hands set firmly on his hips.

Happy tugged at his sleeve. "Natsu! People are giving us funny looks."

"Good. Maybe if we can cause enough commotion here, Gray will hear it and come to _us_."

"I suppose that is playing to your strengths, Natsu," Happy sighed. "Or maybe the soldiers will hear instead, and chase us out of town…"

"This would be easy if I was still me," Natsu grunted. As a Dragon Slayer, he could have easily tracked Gray through his exceptional sense of smell, but Loke's body had no such ability. Surely Loke must have some sort of power which could help him here. Raising his voice, he shouted Gray's name once more, heedless of the looks which two men in uniform shot him from the shadows of one of the buildings.

Nor were the officials the only ones who had noticed him. Outside one of the cafés, four ordinary teenage girls were sat around a table, eating chocolate parfaits and throwing annoyed glances in Natsu's direction.

"Oh, won't he shut up?"

"First the guilds go crazy, and now there's a madman loose in the town centre – what is Magnolia coming to these days?"

"Who does that nutcase think he is, disturbing everyone's afternoon like that?"

"Oh, that's Loke. I wouldn't be surprised if he's gone crazy."

"Hmm? Loke? Isn't that the name of your boyfriend, Sheila?"

"Nah. He was acting like a creep earlier, so I dumped him."

"Ah, it's you!" exclaimed Natsu, laying eyes upon her for the first time. "Loke's girlfriend from earlier! You'll be able to help!"

"Oh. Hey," muttered the girl called Sheila, utterly unimpressed by Natsu's enthusiasm. "Who's _this_ girl you're with?"

"I'm his partner," Happy piped up helpfully.

One of the other girls commented to Natsu, "You _do_ move quickly, don't you?"

Confused, Natsu decided to skip through the awkward politics and move straight on with the conversation. "Anyway… I'm looking for someone. The girl I was with earlier – blonde hair, umm… uh… she's annoyingly loud… you know who I mean though, right?"

"The one in the hospital with you who claimed she hadn't seen you?" She yawned, as if completely nonplussed. "Yeah, I know the lying bitch you mean. What about her?"

"Have you seen her anywhere? I think she's in trouble."

"Asking your ex-girlfriend about the whereabouts of another girlfriend, while in the presence of your partner?" one of Sheila's friends observed, with a whistle. "Totally lame. I can see why you got rid of him, Sheila."

"Hey, wait a minute," Natsu interrupted. "I dumped _her_ , and none of this matters anyway, because I'm not even Loke and he's probably going to blame me for all this when Changeling gets reversed-"

"Probably?" Happy echoed dryly.

"-but that's quite beside the point. I need to find Gray because Lucy is worried about him; I couldn't care less what happens to him, of course, but basically it's really important to her – so have you seen that girl or not?"

Loke's ex-girlfriend narrowed her eyes at him. Natsu was earnest, somehow managing to keep the reins on his impatience for the time being. Eventually, she pulled a face, and gave him a response. "I haven't seen her personally, no." As Natsu turned despondently to leave, she added, "Though there was a rumour going round town that a girl matching that description was seen being carried through the streets not too long ago."

"Really?" Natsu grabbed her by the shoulders. "Where did they take her?"

She flinched back from him, hoping that would be enough for him to let her go. She could have used her magic, but unlike in their confrontation earlier, he seemed more worried than dangerous now. And he definitely wasn't Loke. He looked like him, but she couldn't imagine Loke getting this worked up about one of his girlfriends. She knew none of that had really been serious with him – there had been other girls; she had always known that – but she saw the fiery determination in this Loke's eyes, the resolve to protect the people he cared about, and couldn't possibly refuse him help. Maybe one day, someone would look that way when she was in danger.

"Uh… to a warehouse a few streets away, I think. It's the first left down that street, and then if you keep going you should be able to see it… provided the rumours are true, of course."

Natsu released her and turned away. Quietly, he said, "You're a mage, aren't you? How can you sit here calmly eating while a girl has been kidnapped?"

"As if anyone would rush to the rescue of the girl their boyfriend has been cheating on them with," one of her friends pointed out.

Sheila's own response was calm. "Because, if you've already forgotten, I'm with Phantom Lord. Just because I'm not overly enthusiastic about the whole taking out half of Magnolia along with Fairy Tail thing doesn't mean I don't want my guild to beat the crap out of yours."

"Your guild won't- wait, what do you mean, half of Magnolia?"

She affected a shrug. "Last I heard, the Master was planning on using our Jupiter Cannon to wipe out your guild, and probably most of the surrounding area too. I'm not really cool with that. They have the best parfait shops here."

"Even so, that has nothing to do with Gray being kidnapped-"

"Yeah, but you'd have to be crazy to go up against Gajeel. With him around, people like me can just sit this one out and return to the guild again once all the fuss has died down."

"Gajeel, huh? He's the one who kidnapped Gray? Wait a minute… I know that name! He destroyed our guildhall!" Natsu clapped his fists together, grinning wildly. "Finally, a chance to take revenge on that bastard!"

"Oh, really? Well, he's the strongest in Phantom Lord, so don't say I didn't warn you when you get crushed."

"Heh. We'll see that about that." A sudden thought occurred to Natsu. "Hey, give me a heads-up here. What kind of magic does this Gajeel guy use?"

She frowned. "It's… Pink Fluffy Bunny Magic."

"Really? Doesn't sound too dangerous to me."

"Don't be fooled. It can render all your attacks completely useless by converting your magic to fluffy pink wool. I once heard a rumour though that hugs are his weakness, because his magic doesn't affect them. If you can get close enough to him, maybe you can win."

"Got it, thanks!" Natsu sprinted off in the direction she had told him, waving. "Thank you, Loke's girlfriend! You're the best!"

"You suck!" she called after him.

One of her friends let out an exasperated sigh. "Mages are such freaks, Sheila. You should consider dating someone respectable, like, I don't know, an accountant."

"Yeah," she grinned. "But that wouldn't be nearly as much fun."

* * *

Gajeel was waiting for him on the warehouse's roof. "Gehehe! I almost thought I wasn't going to get to fight any Fairies after all. You smell funny, but I suppose you'll do."

"Give Gray back!" Natsu retaliated.

Gajeel's arm transformed into a pole of iron, rapidly extending down to Natsu's location and forcing him to jump away. "I don't know what you're talking about," he added, almost as an afterthought. "I captured some girl, but she didn't put up much of a fight. I hope you're gonna be more entertaining."

Natsu treated him to his characteristic fearless grin. "Then don't go crying when you lose!"

"Ain't gonna happen!"

A barrage of iron shards descended towards Natsu, who danced further backwards to avoid getting hit. Without any magic power to bolster his physical defences with, a single lucky blow could be fatal to him. At least Loke's body seemed fairly agile, and he could dodge at almost the speed he was accustomed to. Now, if only he could work out what kind of magic Loke had… but he could still sense nothing at all.

And speaking of magic power… "He doesn't look so pink and fluffy to me," Natsu observed.

The disappointed look Happy threw him was quite something. "You really believed her, Natsu?"

"Yeah. I was worried for a moment that this was going to be a really boring fight."

Gajeel wasn't interested in hearing the rest of their conversation. "Sword of the Iron Dragon!" he yelled, leaping from the top of the warehouse and bringing the blade crashing down towards Natsu with all his might.

The latter dodged just in time. "Wait… you're a Dragon Slayer?" he demanded.

"Damn right. Bet you've never faced an enemy as tough as me."

"Heh. You're right. I've always wanted to fight another Dragon Slayer. Now I'm even more fired up!"

"Natsu!" cried Happy. "I don't think now's the best time!"

Unsurprisingly, Natsu wasn't listening. His heart hammered with excitement; his eyes shone with eager anticipation. Gajeel noticed this, and recognized it well. Perhaps this man, despite his strange magical presence and his tendency to run away, would be a worthy opponent after all.

In his haste, Gajeel's next strike went wide, and Natsu took the chance to dive in close. Within the swing of his opponent's weapon, he had a split-second opening. "Dragon Slayer's Secret Art!" Natsu threw himself bodily at Gajeel, flung his arms around him, grappled him into a tight embrace… and began tickling him. "Surprise!"

There was a full minute of silence.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" Gajeel roared.

"That didn't work _either!_ " Natsu complained. "That girl _lied_ to me!"

Happy sighed. "You're only just realizing this _now?_ "

Gajeel plucked Natsu off him with one hand, and hurled him into the air. "Think you'll make fun of me, do you?" The air around him pulsed with magic; the power of a dragon, which Natsu too had once possessed. "You're gonna pay for that. Iron Dragon's Roar!"

There was no way for Natsu to dodge. The breath attack reached him in mid-flight. He cried out; the force of it pummelled him right through the nearest wall and into an abandoned building. Surrounded by dust and broken rocks, he struggled to get back to his feet, only to collapse again almost immediately. Every part of him screamed in pain. As himself, he might have been able to overcome the agony and pull himself back together again, but in a stranger's body – no, in the body of someone who simply wasn't a Dragon Slayer – there could be no such hope.

 _This is the end_ , Natsu realized, and the shock of that statement, so antithetical to his usual mindset, made his heart lurch. _This is what it's like to be defeated._

"Natsu!" As Gajeel strode forwards to ensure his opponent wouldn't get up again, Happy sprang into action to defend his weakened teammate. "I'll protect you, don't worry! _Requip!_ "

Knowing of Titania's legendary powers, Gajeel might have been wary about his new challenger – but after seeing 'Erza' fight against Phantom Lord earlier that day, all his concerns had vanished. True to form, Happy's standard armour vanished, only to be replaced by a full bunny girl costume, complete with ears and a fluffy tail. Happy took it in his stride – as if he was utterly unsurprised that Erza had such outfits in her arsenal – and swiftly struck the most seductive pose he could think of. He was embracing this new style of fighting far too easily. It was a good job the real Erza wasn't around.

Gajeel, however, was less than impressed. Without the slightest hesitation, he struck Happy with his Iron Dragon's Sword, sending him spinning out of the way.

"Natsu! He's immune to my strongest attack! What can I do?"

"Leave- leave this to me," gasped Natsu. He curled his hand into a fist. The effort of it made his entire arm shake. "Damn it…" he cursed. "I can't…"

But even as the option of giving up first occurred to him, his entire being was fighting against it. In his mind, he could hear Igneel roaring at him to get up, for what kind of dragon was pathetic enough to lie defeated at the foot of an opponent? Happy was urging him onwards; Erza's voice gave him the strength to keep on fighting. He remembered how upset Lucy had been, and he couldn't leave things that way. He had to rescue Gray – again! – and bring that bastard back to Fairy Tail, for everyone's sake. There was no way he could fall here. No matter how weak he was on the outside, inside he was still Natsu Dragneel, and when his friends needed him, he would never, _ever_ , give up.

Without even knowing how he had got there, Natsu was on his feet. His breathing was ragged, but his eyes were alive with fire. Golden light gathered around his right hand. It wasn't his Dragon Slayer Magic – he didn't know what kind of magic it was, or how he was even managing to use it; he had forced it to manifest through sheer strength of will.

Gajeel's eyes widened. He had thought his opponent beaten; now, taken by surprise, he had no chance to move aside as Natsu charged at him. All of Natsu's spirit was channelled into a thunderous, wordless shout. Declaring his defiance to anyone who would listen, he drew back his fist and punched Gajeel straight in the stomach.

At first, nothing happened. Gajeel's iron-hard scales absorbed the blow with no effect at all. But then that celestial light blazed around Natsu's fist and the Iron Dragon Slayer was blown backwards as if by an explosion. Howling in pain and outrage, Gajeel hit the ground with a force that would have knocked out a normal man. He tried to clamber to his feet but Natsu was already upon him, striking him again-

Only, this time, his hand passed right through Gajeel's body.

The two Dragon Slayers stared at each other, momentarily united by their confusion. Natsu glanced at his hand. The light of magic had vanished, taking with it the solidity of his arm. From the elbow down, Natsu's – well, Loke's – arm had become incorporeal.

 _Recoil from the magic?_ Natsu thought wildly, but that surely couldn't be the answer. It hadn't been _that_ powerful a spell that he had used, and besides, wasn't this what had happened before - when his hand had become insubstantial, and he had dropped the jug of water, and then Lucy's keys? None of that had been on this scale. What was going on? Was this an after-effect of Changeling? And even worse – was it getting stronger?

Gajeel had instantly registered the shock on his opponent's face, and he wasn't one to let such an advantage slip by. When Natsu's attack failed, he seized his chance, throwing the other off him and standing up again with a laugh. "How disappointing," he mocked. "I admire your courage – perhaps you do have the heart of a Dragon Slayer, after all. Shame you don't have the magic to match it. This ends here. Roar of the-"

"Stop!"

The sound of the new voice caused Gajeel to hesitate. Another figure had entered the alley, standing proud in his black and gold-trimmed coat, with the ends of his scarf flying dramatically back in the wind.

"Me!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Loke? What are you doing here?" Happy demanded.

"Natsu, Happy – find Gray, and get him back to Fairy Tail," ordered Loke, not taking his eyes off Gajeel for a moment.

"You again," hissed Phantom Lord's mage.

"So, you believe you have what it takes to face me, Natsu Dragneel, Fairy Tail's Salamander; the Fire Dragon Slayer?"

"Hey-" Natsu tried, but Happy was already dragging him down the street.

"You dare call yourself a Dragon Slayer? Don't make me laugh. You did nothing but run and hide when we fought earlier!"

Loke's external aura of control was detectable even as Natsu. Without a pause, he responded smoothly, "Well, now I see that you're an opponent worth using my true power on – the power of my father, Igneel! Are you sure you're not just afraid of my hidden abilities, Iron Dragon?"

"Heh." Gajeel cast a glance over his shoulder, where Natsu and Happy limped in the direction of the warehouse, and grinned. Given the fragmented magical presence he could sense coming from the newcomer, it would take no time at all to deal with him and then secure the prisoner. Guarding the girl may have been an order from his Guild Master, but a proper battle with another Dragon Slayer wasn't a chance that came along very often. Besides, it was well-known that Gajeel's confidence bordered on arrogance. He didn't doubt for a second that he would be able to win this fight and still prevent his opponents, already wounded to the point of exhaustion, from escaping. "Bring it on, Salamander!"

"Let's do this!" Loke declared. "Fire Dragon's… Breath!"

"It's Fire Dragon's _Roar!_ " Natsu yelled over his shoulder. "If you're going to impersonate me, at least get it right!"

But he never saw the outcome of the fight, as at that moment Happy pulled him through the door of the warehouse and the bright sunlit street dissolved into darkness.

* * *

The iron door slammed shut behind them. The sounds of the battle between the fake Dragon Slayer and the real one were drowned beneath the vibrations of the metal sheets, and then that too died away to nothing. After the dazzling chaos of the outside world, the interior of the warehouse was eerily quiet, and smothered in pitch-black darkness.

Natsu tried moving forwards, only to immediately trip over some sort of metal pipe and fall flat on his face. He cried out more in surprise than in pain. Happy was sniggering, but not maliciously. It was unusual for the proud, confident Dragon Slayer to be brought to his knees, and by a stray bit of plumbing, no less.

He lay there on the floor for a moment or two. Lying down in the darkness was alarmingly comfortable. The fight, and the wounds he had sustained during it, had severely exhausted him, beyond what he was used to dealing with in his own body. Though his arm had regained its usual solidity, it had brought with it aching muscles and an alien sense of weakness.

Aware that his friend hadn't got up again, Happy inquired quietly, "Natsu? You're still there, right?" Natsu grunted something unintelligible. "Oh, I know! Requip!"

"Not again-" groaned Natsu. In the dark space, the blazing light of Erza's magic drove like daggers through his eyes and into his brain. It took a couple of minutes for the afterglow to die away, and to his surprise, the darkness hadn't quite returned with its full strength. Happy was stood a few paces away wearing a polished red armour, glittering in the firelight from the burning sword he held in one hand. "Huh," he remarked.

"See, who's the most useful member of our team now?" Happy grinned.

"Nice one, Happy!" Emboldened, Natsu managed to force himself to his feet. "Right, let's find that idiot Gray and hurry back to Fairy Tail!"

"…Who are you calling an idiot, jerkface?"

That voice was weak, but it was most definitely Lucy's – and the words most definitely Gray's. Natsu was so relieved to hear it that he didn't even notice the insult aimed at him. "Gray! Found you!"

With Happy's light to guide them, they could navigate across the abandoned warehouse's floor much more easily. Over in the far corner, Gray was lying on his side, his hands and feet bound tightly with rope. Not wanting to seem pathetic in front of his rival, Gray managed to force himself into a sitting position, despite the difficulty of moving.

"Natsu, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to rescue you and bring you back to the guild, obviously!" As an afterthought, Natsu added happily, "For the second time in one day, that is."

"He only came because Lucy asked him to," Happy clarified.

To their surprise, Gray didn't meet their eyes. "Lucy…"

"She's really worried about you. We have to get back before Phantom Lord show up again. Happy! Hand me one of Erza's swords so I can cut those ropes-"

"No, Natsu," Gray told him firmly.

"What?"

"I'm not going back to the guild."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to protect Lucy." Quietly at first, and then with increasing conviction, the former ice mage declared, "Phantom Lord are after her. This is the second time they've kidnapped me today – they're going to keep coming after her, over and over again, until they have what they want. They won't stop, even if Fairy Tail is destroyed! Once they have her, they're going to use her as a hostage to blackmail her father, and keep her as a prisoner – I don't want her to have to go through all that!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I can't explain it to you now, Natsu. But if Phantom Lord find out that she's me, they'll kidnap her and hurt her. I'm the only one who can protect her. If I can convince them that I'm Lucy – and no one's noticed otherwise yet – then I can take her place, and she can be safe. I can deal with her father for her and she never has to get involved!"

Natsu was unusually silent following this pronouncement. Gray insisted, "Even though I can't help her with her magic, I shouldn't have said what I did to her, and… and this is the only thing I can do to make it up to her. So go back to the guild, Natsu. Tell Lucy that you couldn't find me."

Again, there was only silence. If the fierce battle was still raging outside, they could detect no trace of it from in here. Gray began to feel his confidence ebb.

Natsu's face was inscrutable. "So," he said. "You're running away."

"No, I'm not! I can't protect the guild without my magic – you know that! But I can protect my friend, so that's what I'm going to do!"

"And how do you think Lucy would feel about this? You, running away from the guild and putting yourself in danger for her without her even knowing – do you think she'd be happy with that? No! She would _never_ forgive you! And neither would I!"

"I'm only trying to protect her-" Gray repeated angrily.

" _Lucy isn't weak!_ " yelled Natsu. "When has she ever needed us to do everything for her? She's our teammate; our friend! How dare you try to self-righteously take on all her burdens, just because you don't think she's capable of dealing with them herself? She's one of us, so don't you dare patronize her! It's our job to stand beside her as she fights her own battles: we don't pity our friends; we support them! That's how we get stronger, as human beings!"

Gray said nothing.

More calmly, Natsu told him, "Lucy's worried about you. That's why she asked me to go and look for you. If something happened to you because Phantom Lord thought you were her, she's bound to blame herself, even if it was really just the result of your pig-headedness."

"Lucy asked you… even after what I said to her?" He seemed to be talking more to himself than to Natsu, but the other replied anyway.

"Of course! Because we're Fairy Tail. We're family, all of us – that's what being in a guild is all about. If you've forgotten what that means, then you don't deserve to return to Fairy Tail!"

"How dare you-?" Gray began, only to be cut off abruptly as Natsu's fist connected cleanly with his chin. Struck dumb by the shock of the blow, Gray stared up at him blankly.

"That's for making Lucy cry," Natsu told him.

"Natsu…" Happy murmured, just as surprised.

"Come on, Happy. We're leaving. Let's go and fight alongside our family." He took two steps towards the exit and then paused. On second thoughts, he pulled the ring of golden keys from his pocket and tossed them over his shoulder, where they landed an inch away from Gray's feet. "Lucy asked me to give you these. You don't deserve them. Usually, when people say things which upset their friends, they go and apologize – they don't run away from responsibility and wallow in the dark. If you're a Fairy Tail mage, then _fight_."

And with that, the two of them left Gray behind.

* * *

Long after the door closed behind them and all light vanished once more from the warehouse, Gray was still staring at Lucy's ring of keys. Even before the darkness made it impossible, he hadn't really been seeing them. All he could see in his mind's eye was the afterimage of Natsu's disdainful face.

And all he could hear were his words. _We're family. If you've forgotten what that means, then you don't deserve to return to Fairy Tail_.

When _had_ he forgotten that? After his birth family had been killed, Ur had taken him in. She had become his teacher – and more than that. She was his foster mother; she had raised him to be a young man, as well as an Ice Make mage, just as Lyon had been more like a brother to him than a fellow pupil. For most of his childhood, that had been his family.

And then, after he had come to Magnolia, distraught and broken after the death of Ur, Fairy Tail had taken him in. It hadn't been quite as simple as when Ur had adopted him – maybe that was what made it more difficult to see. But, over time, the entire of Fairy Tail had become his extended family. They angered him and cheered him in equal measure: some he fought with, some he fought alongside, some he hardly knew, but they were always there, strangers from all walks of life brought together by that sense of _belonging_.

In Fairy Tail, there was always someone to laugh with at the end of the day; always a rival to spur you on; always a shoulder to cry on; always a smile when you most needed it. It was worlds away from the life of seclusion he had lived in the mountains with Ur and Lyon, but it was also as close as he would ever get again.

How _stupid_ had he been?

He had fooled himself into believing he was doing this for Lucy, but he wasn't. As much as he hated it, Natsu had been right. Lucy didn't need him to fight her battles for her; she was far, far stronger than that. He had wanted to stay hidden here in the dark for no one but himself. To protect his wounded pride. To avoid that awkward situation of having to go back, and explain why he was wrong, and to apologize.

Because he _had_ been wrong. So what if he had only known Lucy for a few weeks? In that short space of time, they had already been through so much together. They had fought alongside each other; risked death together for the sake of the world, and for those they loved. They were both members of Fairy Tail – no, more than that, they were both part of Fairy Tail's strongest team.

To have come to care for someone so deeply in such a short space of time - that was what the bonds of magic were all about. So what if he wasn't her teacher, and she wasn't his pupil? Ur wouldn't mind if he shared the secrets of her magic with someone so close to him. No, not just that. She would be happy. Happy that he had been able to acknowledge the importance of family, and the power of those invisible bonds that ran far deeper than blood.

In one swift move, he seized Lucy's ring of celestial keys from the floor. He couldn't stand, so he would have to do it from here. In the darkness, he ran his fingers over the shapes of the keys, praying that he was remembering them correctly. The ropes tightened against his wrists with every movement; he ignored the bursts of pain like they was nothing.

"Gate of the Giant Crab, I open thee! Cancer!"

He couldn't see the figure who appeared before him, but he knew it had worked. "Lucy's in trouble!" Gray informed the Celestial Spirit, before he had a chance to complain about the man who had summoned him. "I have to get to her, now!"

"Understood-ebi."

The sound of metal blades being scraped along each other reached his ears. Gray didn't even flinch as Cancer's scissors flitted across his bare skin. Then the pressure at his wrists vanished, and an instant later, his ankles were also free. Pushing the remnants of the rope away from him, Gray stood up and stretched. "Thank you, Cancer," he murmured, and he felt the drain on his magic power vanish as the other returned to the Spirit World, his task complete. "And thank you… Natsu."

Gray began to run. On the uneven ground, he stumbled but did not fall. The sharp prickly pain as blood began to return to his hands and feet didn't even slow him down. Now that he had found his determination again, nothing could stop him.

He burst through the door and out into the street, narrowing his eyes against the blinding sunlight. Gajeel was barring the only exit to the alleyway, breathing heavily but otherwise unharmed. Against him stood Natsu, Loke and Happy, all three of them suffering from an assortment of minor injuries.

Still, it didn't stop Natsu from glancing over his shoulder, and grinning when he saw Gray. "So, you decided to join us after all."

"Yeah," Gray grunted. "Can't be sitting around doing nothing when Lucy needs me. Oh, and Natsu?"

"Huh?"

Natsu looked at him quizzically, possibly expecting an apology – only to have Gray punch him in the face. "That was for earlier."

"Heh." A dangerous look entered the Dragon Slayer's eyes as he staggered backwards. There it was again – that expression reserved only for the rival he truly acknowledged. "You wanna go, do you?"

"I don't think now is the best time!" Loke interrupted, exasperated as ever at the two's tendency to brawl in the most inappropriate places.

Gray gave a reluctant smile. "Yeah. I need to get back to the guild and apologize to Lucy."

Happy added helpfully, "Not to mention stop the cannon that's going to blow up half of Magnolia along with Fairy Tail."

"What?" Gray demanded.

" _What?_ " Natsu echoed.

"You know, what that girl said. Weren't you listening?"

"What girl?"

"Your girlfriend."

"Oh, yeah, her."

"Girlfriend?" Loke inquired, bemused.

"Ex-girlfriend, actually. Well, _your_ ex-girlfriend."

"…Natsu, what have you _done_ -?"

" _Iron Dragon's Roar!_ "

It took them a moment to recognize that furious voice. The next instant, battle instincts kicked in once more; the four of them scattered in different directions, and the tempest of whirling steel blades passed them by without harm. In a reunion of friends, it was easy to forget the ever-present danger. None of them would make it back to the guild if they couldn't get past the Iron Dragon Slayer first.

"I'll deal with this," Gray told the others, stepping forward confidently. He selected the key he needed, and held it up triumphantly towards the sky. "Gate of the Maiden, I open thee! Virgo!"

At the sudden toll on his magic power, he bent over double and would have collapsed if Loke hadn't caught him. This was the price of calling Spirits consecutively – he certainly had gained a new respect for Lucy's resilience. But his magic power wouldn't fail him as long as he had the courage to stand up, and the Gate opened for him.

"Time for punishment, Prince?" Virgo said, by way of greeting.

"Yeah," Gray confirmed, with a wild grin. "For Phantom Lord's Dragon Slayer over there! We need to get back to Lucy and the guild – could you give us a hand?"

"As you command," came Virgo's response. The maid gave a brief bow and tunnelled into the ground.

Natsu clapped Gray on the back enthusiastically. "You're a Celestial Spirit mage now, Gray?"

"Yeah. Lucy taught me."

"That's so cool!" A sudden thought occurred to the Dragon Slayer then, and he rounded on Loke. "Say, Loke, how about teaching me-?"

Fortunately, there was no need for the other to respond to that. Infuriated by the lack of combat, Gajeel had chosen that moment to charge at his opponents – only to fall right into the trap dug by Virgo. The Dragon Slayer sunk downwards until he was buried up to his neck in soft earth, spluttering in rage.

"Good job, Virgo, thanks!" Gray called out, feeling the Spirit depart once again. "Natsu, Happy, Loke – now's our chance! Come on!"

There was no more time to waste. They sprinted to the end of the street, aiming to return to Fairy Tail as quickly as possible.

Only Natsu paused, turning back to shout one last farewell. "Hey, Gajeel! One day, we're gonna have a proper battle, just you and me – and that's a promise!"

The other snarled an unintelligible response, redoubling his efforts to free himself from the earth. Natsu grinned. Even if he couldn't make out the words, it was a sentiment he understood very well. He raised his hand in acknowledgement and ran off to catch up with the others. The battle between Dragon Slayers would have to wait. Protecting his guild would always come first.

* * *

The world that existed beyond the slit of Laxus's half-closed eyes held two colours only: the dull red of the sky just after sunset, and the black of darkest night. They were colours that matched well with the only things he could feel; the red being the taste of blood in his mouth and the black the lethargy swallowing his body, which refused to move in response to his thoughts. Shadows shifted against an ominous crimson sky.

Dimly, he could hear Mira calling his name. He couldn't have turned his head to see her approach even if he had wanted to, but he felt her footsteps resonate through the ground, persistent enough to border on annoying.

Why hadn't it worked? It wasn't for lack of magic power, that was for certain. He was Makarov Dreyar's grandson alright; if nothing else, he had inherited his grandfather's vast capacity for holding magic power. Though he had been weakened by the continual fighting, it hadn't worn him down to the point where his own magic would fail him. He hadn't even started drawing on his buried Dragon Slayer potential yet that day.

Nor was it a problem with the spell itself. He had witnessed Makarov using it and committed it to memory long ago – so long ago that even if Makarov had known how attentively Laxus had been watching, he had almost certainly forgotten by now. That was another advantage of being related by blood; his grandfather's magic came easily to him.

No, the cause of Fairy Law's failure wasn't _him_ : it was the fault of those fools he had been trying to protect.

Fairy Law was magic belonging to Fairy Tail's Guild Master. He thought it would have come into his possession when he had been chosen to lead the guild in this fight, but he had been wrong. There was some truth to all that crap the others had been spouting earlier. He was only temporarily the Master of Fairy Tail. And it was nothing more than a formality; a position assigned for convenience, and to get him on their side. It meant nothing. Not one of them considered him to be their actual leader. They thought him an imposter, trying to seize the throne while their true Master was wounded. And, above all, that old man still hadn't retired. Unless he voluntarily surrendered his title, he would never be the Master. And Fairy Law, the Guild Master's unique magic – and the only hope they had of winning this battle – lay beyond his reach.

Those _morons_. Why was he fighting for the sake of such a pathetic guild, anyway?

"Laxus!" Mira was deafeningly close. Feeling was returning to his body, but not rapidly enough; when she grabbed him and tried to pull him to his feet, it felt as though she was touching him through several layers of wool.

"Don't… touch me…" He had intended to snap at her, but even his own voice sounded as if it was coming from a long way away.

She ignored him. "Come on. We have to get out of here! There's not much time left before Jupiter fires-"

"Run away?" His attempt at a laugh came out as a choke; he tasted blood once again.

"We have no choice," she told him firmly.

"I'm not _running_." With a herculean force of will, Laxus raised his arm towards Phantom Lord's mechanical headquarters. A single jolt of lightning ran from his shoulder to his fist – only to vanish, as his arm collapsed back to the ground.

"There's nothing more we can do," Mira told him. "If we're still here when Jupiter finishes charging, we'll all die."

" _Screw that_ ," Laxus hissed. Drawing upon all his willpower, he pushed Mira away and forced himself up. He knelt on shaking knees, both hands on the ground for support, ignoring the screaming protests from his battered body. His pride was a source of strength. He would not fall. Not like this.

"Laxus-" Mira's voice – the voice of his own grandfather – was laced with an alarm that Makarov would never have used. Whether it was alarm at his physical condition, or alarm at his stubbornness, he didn't know.

"You can run," he told her. "Run, like everyone else has done. Even if I have to stand alone, I am not… leaving here… until Phantom Lord have learnt… _never_ to mess with my guild!"

Mira had no response to that. Laxus looked up defiantly, and as the world settled down and began to return to its full spectrum of colours, he finally saw what she was looking at.

The other members of Fairy Tail hadn't fled. They had formed a semi-circle a respectful distance away from the two of them, watching Laxus with particular wariness. They looked like they wanted to run, but they hadn't. No – they _wouldn't_ , not if it meant one of their own would be left behind.

Laxus scowled, and tried to stand. His legs, trembling with the utter exhaustion that came from expending almost all of one's magic power, collapsed beneath him – but he didn't fall. Elfman had caught him, and was supporting him with strong arms. No, not Elfman, some distant part of his mind reminded him: Cana, in Elfman's body. "Take it easy," she told him, and then glanced away, embarrassed. "And you're right. Fairy Tail doesn't run away so readily."

"Let's think of defensive options," Erza suggested, moving to stand by Mira and Laxus. His stubborn-to-a-fault defiance had temporarily lifted her depression. Perhaps it was his courage that inspired her; more likely, it was because his obstinacy reminded her of a certain other Dragon Slayer she knew. "How can we block magic on the level of the Jupiter Cannon? We'd need something at least as strong as my Adamantine Armour, and that's not an option right now…"

"I could try and Ice Make some sort of barrier." Lucy popped up next to her, trying a brave smile.

"Maybe, if we can somehow combine our power…" Mira frowned. "Where's Mystogan?"

Laxus wasn't listening to any of them. He clenched his fist once more; this time, lightning crackled the full length of his body, and persisted. Startled, Cana jumped away from him. Though Laxus swayed without support, he remained standing. "Screw all of that," he told them, his eyes alight with danger. "I can do this by myself."

" _How?_ "

"Just you watch…"

Mira gave up trying to convince him. Turning back to the others, she once more assumed the mantle of authority that seemed to have come with Makarov's body. "Who was keeping track of time? Wakaba?"

"Two minutes until Jupiter fires," came the glum response. "If we're going to leave, it has to be now."

"I'm _not_ leaving!" Laxus snarled, to anyone who hadn't yet got the message. The others backed away from him as the charge building up on his body increased tenfold, sending shivers of electricity burying like worms into the ground around him.

Erza watched him with rising doubt. It looked impressive, but she could sense how low his magic power was. There was no way he was going to get anywhere near the amount of energy produced by a cannon that took fifteen minutes to charge from an enormous lacrima. And even at full power, Laxus hardly specialized in defence. Even as she watched, the dancing lightning flickered and died, its wielder bending double and gasping for breath.

"Lucy," Erza commanded. "Try and create a wall, like Gray does."

"Got it." Lucy spoke with far more confidence than she felt. Placing herself between Phantom Lord and the rest of the guild, she tried to draw Gray's usual Ice Make stance out of her memory. "Ice Make!" she declared, but no magic came to her. Not even magic that felt strange, or magic she couldn't control. Nothing.

"One minute!" Wakaba shouted.

They could see light down the barrel of the Jupiter Cannon now. Even from this distance, they could feel its magical force begin to tear up the air. Lucy redoubled her efforts. " _Ice Make!_ Come _on!_ _Do something!_ "

Still nothing. It was probably for the best, though, wasn't it? After what had happened earlier, wouldn't Gray be upset that she was trying to use his magic in the first place? She could almost hear his voice in her mind, outraged and hurt-

" _LUCY!_ "

-and _happy?_

No, that wasn't just in her mind – that was her own voice shouting; Gray's words. Wheeling round, Lucy saw him dashing across the plaza towards her, with Happy, Natsu and Loke at his side.

But joy at seeing her friends again was quickly overruled by panic when a thunderous roar came from the Jupiter Cannon. "No! Don't come here!" she yelled in desperation, gesturing wildly in her attempt to convey the danger of the situation.

Gray called back, "Lucy! I'm sorry!"

Had he misunderstood her words? The other three had stopped, seeing the cannon's barrel, blazing like a second sun, aimed directly towards Fairy Tail. Only Gray was still running towards her. "No, Gray! It's going to fire! Stay back!"

He ignored her shout, stopping only once he was beside her. Lucy was too exasperated to even yell at him; Erza took up the baton with a strict reprimand. "You shouldn't have come. Now you'll be caught up in it too."

"No, I should have come," Gray responded calmly. "I needed to apologize to Lucy." He shifted his gaze towards Phantom Lord for the first time. To their surprise, rather than showing fear, he grinned. "An enormous cannon, eh?"

"Indeed," Erza confirmed.

"Excellent." His words became a command. "Lucy! With me!"

She stared at him, not understanding – and then suddenly she did. She knew exactly what he wanted her to do. In that instant, their thoughts were as one.

With perfect synchronization, they both stripped, tossing away their outer garments as if they hadn't a care in the world. Gray settled into his Ice Make stance; Lucy mirrored his exact posture. This time, the magic came to her immediately. It rose up from nowhere, more than ever before, turning the air around them white with its brilliance. Gray moved slowly through the motions and she mimicked him, feeling the magic shape itself to their unified will.

Gray's outstretched hand rested atop Lucy's. He looked at her and smiled; surprised, she smiled back. This magic – Ice Make – it wasn't cold at all. It was the warmth of another's hand. Ur's. Lucy's.

By the time the Jupiter Cannon fired, there wasn't a trace of fear left.

With eyes full of light, and their hearts soaring with exhilaration, they called out as one: "Ice Make: Mirror Wall!"

From the ground in front of them rose up an enormous wall of ice. Glittering like the most beautiful gemstone, silver and blue and radiating magic power like a cold aura, it grew as high as Phantom Lord's headquarters, as high as Fairy Tail's guildhall had once stood, and kept going. It was far larger than anything Gray had made before, because this time he wasn't working the magic alone.

At long last, Jupiter fired. The beam of intense magic power lanced across the short distance and struck the centre of the ice wall. Before their combined Ice Make, everyone watching would have admitted that that beam was the strongest concentration of magic they had ever seen, but now there was no question that the Mirror Wall would hold against it.

And hold it did. As more and more of Phantom Lord's magic poured into it, it grew brighter and brighter; a wall of crystal capturing light and reflecting it in every direction. The entire plaza was bathed in scintillating colours, tracing out rainbow fractals across the battlefield, until it became so bright they had to close their eyes.

Then the magic rolling off the Jupiter Cannon faded from their senses. It had expended all its charge. All the light that the ice wall had gathered was unleashed at once back towards the cannon. It carved deep fractures down the length of the barrel, shaking the building to its very foundations – and then it reached the charging lacrima. An instant later, the lacrima overloaded with power and exploded.

Only when the blaze died away could both sides see the true extent of the damage. The Jupiter Cannon was in pieces; it would never be used again. Phantom Lord's building was as much of a wreck as Fairy Tail's was. And, despite the magnitude of the explosion, not a single Fairy Tail mage had so much as a scratch on them.

Once again, they had defied the odds, and done the impossible. Fairy Tail was saved.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Poor Gajeel. All he wants to do is have a serious fight with someone, and no one's remotely interested. He's such a fun character to torment, and I am certainly not through with him yet. Just wait until Levy gets her hands on him..._

 _Although Lucy and Gray may have saved the day, the battle is far from over. It's not the best place to end a chapter I'll admit, but I really didn't have a choice. At least it was a happy ending. Next chapter is the finale of the Phantom Lord arc, and that's when things really start getting serious. Anyway, thanks for reading! ~CS_


	7. The True Power of Fairy Tail's Master

_**A/N:** Final chapter of Phantom Lord. Well, technically I count chapters 8 and 9 as part of this arc too, for word count balancing purposes, but they're more transition chapters to set up the next arc. This is where the guild war ends... for better or for worse. ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Seven: The True Power of Fairy Tail's Master**

As the ice wall dissolved into sparkling fragments of light, a cheer rose up from Fairy Tail. It had been far too long since they had had something to celebrate, and that made this victory all the sweeter.

Lucy suddenly flung her arms around Gray, laughing in relief. "We did it!" she cheered.

"H-Hey-" Gray protested weakly, but he was grinning too. Because they _had_ done it. They had protected Fairy Tail. In the end it hadn't been the Master, or Laxus, or even Natsu who had done it, but him and- wait, _Lucy?_ "Lucy? You're Lucy?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, you're Lucy again! And I'm Gray!"

It took a moment for the meaning behind those words to sink in. The person stood before her was not the body she had only just got used to thinking of as Gray, but Gray as she had always known him, a near-naked ice mage with fierce eyes, shaggy hair, and a powerful, muscled – male – body. He was back to normal.

Lucy glanced down at herself. Never had she been so relieved to see her own body. Everything just felt right again, from the way her hair fell on her shoulders to the balance of the weight on her feet. She let out a contented sigh – and then realized she was stood there in only her underwear.

" _GRAY!_ " she shrieked. " _What did you do with my clothes?_ "

"Umm…" He wanted to help her, he really did. But it was just too funny, and after the stress of the past couple of days, it was difficult not to laugh at every opportunity they got. Besides, the sight of Lucy looking so flustered was an amusing one, especially when she was probably the only person who had noticed her lack of clothes.

There was a burst of light, and a slim girl wearing a black and white maid outfit appeared at her side.

"Virgo?" Lucy asked, panic temporarily overruled by surprise.

"I came through the Gate under my own magic power to bring you these: clothes from the Spirit World." Virgo handed a small pile of fabric to Lucy and a matching one to Gray. Though the maid's expression was as neutral as ever, Lucy thought she could detect a feeling of happiness from the Spirit. They had their Master back, after all. She wondered if they had actually been worried about her.

"Welcome back, Princess," Virgo said, bowing first to her, and then to Gray. "Thank you, Prince."

"Uh, no problem," Gray responded awkwardly.

The Celestial Spirit disappeared back through the Gate. Lucy shouted her thanks, certain that the other knew her feelings, even if she couldn't hear her. Then she turned to Gray, anger forgotten. This was their moment of elation, of victory; there was no way on earth she could be mad at him right now. "Thank you for coming back, Gray," she told him, and then hurried off to find some privacy to get dressed in.

Gray considered doing the same, but thought he would rather stay as he was for the time being. He really had missed the feel of the wind against his bare skin. Stretching contentedly, and enjoying the feeling of just being him again, he glanced across the water to the smouldering wreck of Phantom Lord's headquarters. "Is that it, then? Is it over?"

Mira said quietly, "Let's hope so."

"And there I was just getting warmed up."

Just because he could, he placed his hands together and created a glittering sword of ice, swinging it back and forth before letting it disappear again. With everything that had happened non-stop since Changeling, he hadn't had time to realize quite how much he had missed having the power of magic flowing through him. Now that he had it back, it was stronger than ever and eager to make itself known through his hands. The desire to revel in it was overpowering. He wanted nothing more than to just Ice Make _everything_ that came to mind until he no longer had the energy to stand-

But he had seen the look on a certain cat's face when he had created that simple ice blade with his magic, and for reasons he couldn't quite put his finger on, it scared him. He became aware of footsteps behind him: Natsu, Loke and Happy. In front of him stood Mira; on the ground beside her, her steely gaze fixed on the stone beneath her paws, was Erza - all friends who weren't as lucky as he was, and still didn't have their magic back. With an effort, he restrained himself and folded his arms. Against his chest, the chill aura of magic slowly faded from his hands.

"It's probably for the best," he said, with a nervous smile. "I'm not sure even I'd want to take on all of Phantom Lord on my own…"

* * *

Jose was physically shaking with fury. How had this happened? Such a pathetic guild, with their Master broken and his grandson thoroughly defeated – how had they managed to stand against his secret weapon? This should have been an easy fight. He had been confident enough to leave Gajeel in charge of the girl, and yet she had returned to Fairy Tail, and there was still no sign of his Dragon Slayer. He had brought out his precious Jupiter Cannon in order to drive his opponents into despair, and it had been turned against him. Now, his guild was as much a ruin as theirs was.

He could not let this stand. Fairy Tail would not get the better of Phantom Lord. He would have the last laugh.

Already, his loyal mages were assembling at his side. Most of them had been largely unhurt by the explosion. Though the building had fallen easily, it was not enough to stop his chosen soldiers. They crawled out of the wreckage of the guildhall, freeing their companions, swearing vengeance against their opponents, and awaiting their Master's orders.

They did not have to wait long. Their Guild Master, normally so calm and composed, wore a look of savage hatred. He had not come this far to back down now. Those eyes promised nothing but destruction.

"Crush them."

* * *

Some flew; some teleported; most had to resort to the more mundane method of swimming. However they travelled, though, the Phantom Lord mages' arrival amongst Fairy Tail's premature celebration brought utter chaos. They had dared to think it was over, and suddenly enemies were in their midst. Cheers became cries of terror; once again, a brief moment of respite had deteriorated into the chaos of battle.

At the first shriek of warning, Mira's mind went blank. _It's happening again_ , she thought wildly. Despite their best efforts, and the incredible feats of magic attempted by Laxus alone and ultimately achieved by Gray and Lucy's teamwork, it was happening again. Was this the fate of Fairy Tail? The bonds closer than family; the joyous parties in the guildhall; the Master's hearty laugh, when everything was as it should be – would they ever have days of peace like that again, when all they could do was fight and fight some more until they finally died?

"Mira!" That shouted word was all the warning she got before Gray barrelled into her. The two of them fell to the ground as a bolt of angry magic streaked through the air where she had been standing. Without a moment's pause, Gray rolled off her into a crouch, stretching one arm out in front of him. The temperature of the air plummeted; a wall of ice appeared in front of the two of them. Though tiny compared to the vast one he and Lucy had somehow created earlier, it was more than sufficient to block the further purple missiles of light which broke against it.

Gray glanced back over his shoulder. "Mira, get somewhere safe!" he ordered. Before she could object, he launched himself forward. The ice wall shattered and he burst through it, its shards already congregating around his raised hand as he charged forth, ice lances tearing through the opponents ahead of him.

Run away? That was all she could ever do. Being a mage without magic was endurable during times of peace. She never had to confront her own weakness. She could support and encourage her friends in the guild; she could help the Master with the day-to-day running of the organization; she could leave the fighting to those who were capable of it, and ensure that they always had a home to return to.

But at times like this, when the guild was most in need of help, she could do nothing. Words of support didn't matter in the free-for-all, only the ability to fight. Here, she couldn't even fool herself into thinking that she was making a difference. In battle, all was laid bare.

If she tried to fight here, she would only get in the way, so Mira ran for cover. The ruins of the guildhall provided the obvious hiding place. It was in one of the mostly-intact rooms right at the edge of the building that the Master was lying; hopefully the enemies wouldn't venture in there. Even so, he ought not to be alone at a time like this. The least she could do was check to see if he was safe.

Quickly reaching cover, she stepped through a breach in the wall and ran along behind it, thankful that Makarov's short stature made it easier for her to find concealment. She had only gone a few steps when the wall burst inwards under the explosive force of fire magic. Jumping backwards just in time, she raised her hands to protect her face from flying debris.

After a minute or two, when no further attacks followed, she dared to peer through the hole the attack had left. It hadn't been someone targeting Makarov after all, but a stray spell. She wasn't in danger yet.

The battle had begun in earnest. It was the pandemonium of the fight in Phantom Lord's guildhall all over again, except this time, Fairy Tail were fighting a losing battle from the outset. It was all anyone could do just to protect themselves, let alone mount a united resistance against their opponents. The brief flicker of hope that had sprung into existence when Jupiter had fallen had been crushed just as quickly, and the tide of battle would rise and fall with the morale of its participants.

The scene she surveyed was a bleak one. Mystogan was already surrounded by a host of unconscious enemies, victims of his powerful sleep spell, but his strongest magic wasn't well suited for dealing with vast numbers of opponents in a drawn-out battle. Phantom Lord knew that the enigmatic figure was their biggest threat; the Element 4, weakened by their earlier defeats but by no means out of the fight, were closing in on him.

Lucy had clearly returned to the fray, as Gray stood back to back with Taurus at the centre of a ring of enemies, the former holding an axe of ice almost as large as that wielded by the mighty Bull Spirit. Elsewhere, Natsu wasn't letting his lack of Dragon Slayer abilities hold him back. What his physical attacks lacked in magic, they more than made up for with vigour and ferocity.

But for those whose magic power had yet to recover from the battle earlier, and for those who didn't share the same unrelenting foolhardiness as Natsu, the will to fight was rapidly fading. Many among them had wanted to flee earlier, and had only stayed because of Laxus-

That was a point. Where was Laxus? Mira scanned the battlefield, but could see no sign of him anywhere. Had he fled? Before today she might have considered it a possibility, but after his actions earlier, she was now certain he would never run, no matter how hopeless the fight. Then, was he in danger? He had been in a bad way after his failed attempt at using Fairy Law, and she had lost sight of him following Gray's triumphant return. He wouldn't go down without a fight, though, and she had seen none of his signature lightning in all the time she had been watching-

"You did this; you can undo it!"

Mira jumped at the sudden shout. Was that really Laxus's voice, or just a trick of her imagination? A quick glance around revealed nothing.

"Switch back with Mirajane, and fix this now!"

That was definitely Laxus, and he was close. In fact, if he was talking to the Master, then she knew exactly where he was. Throwing caution to the wind, she abandoned her cover and ran towards the room where Makarov was taking shelter.

"This is all your goddamn fault!" Laxus's accusation rose above the din of the melee in her ears. "Your prank has brought ruin to us! Because of your idiotic decisions, this guild – _my_ guild – is about to be destroyed! You don't deserve to call yourself Guild Master!"

Straining her ears in an attempt to catch Makarov's response, Mira ran on, hearing only silence. There was true fury in Laxus's voice – not his usual casual derision, or even the harsh cruelty of his remarks earlier, but raw, unbridled anger. Still she heard nothing from Makarov, and she began to worry.

" _Still_ you cling to power! Your time is over, old man! Just retire already, and give me the guild!"

Mira rounded a corner, burst through the fractured door – and stopped in her tracks. Whatever she had imagined, it wasn't as bad as this. Laxus had one hand around the Master's throat, pinning him up against the wall. Lightning crackled around his other fist, which was drawn back in preparation to strike. If Makarov had been his usual short, fierce self, it might not have looked so bad – but he wasn't, he was in Mira's body, fragile and limp and unable to resist the sheer physical power of the other.

"LAXUS!" Mira screamed without thinking.

Laxus looked over his shoulder at her, and for a moment, she didn't recognize him at all. She took a step back. Fear, of someone she had once trusted implicitly; of a friend she had grown up with. Yes, they had drifted apart in the aftermath of Lisanna's death, but this was the first time she had ever looked at him and seen a total stranger. His fury – at his grandfather, at his own weakness, at being interrupted – made itself manifest in the magic which churned up the air around him. That this fellow member of Fairy Tail might turn that power on her at any minute was the only thought in her mind.

But though her fear for her own safety was great, greater still was her fear of what he might do to his own grandfather. She didn't even notice how strong her voice was as she called out, "Let him go! Laxus!"

With a ferocious scowl, he released Makarov, who slumped down against the wall. He strode towards Mira, who tensed – but he merely brushed past her without a word and left the building.

As soon as he was gone, she ran over to Makarov's lifeless form. "Master? Master!"

Though he was unconscious, he was still breathing. Red bruises were beginning to form around his throat. She lifted him over to the makeshift bed with some effort, and tried to make him as comfortable as she could. Only when he stirred did relief finally break through the tension.

The Master opened one eye slowly and fixed it on her. In a broken voice, he rasped, "Laxus? Is he here?" Mira shook her head. "Oh. I thought I heard his voice… Perhaps it was a dream."

Had he been unconscious during that entire confrontation? It was probably for the best. She didn't want to hurt Makarov by telling him what had – almost – transpired while he had been sleeping. He had enough to deal with right now.

"He was here a moment ago," she told him. It was the truth, even if she was evading the point somewhat. "But he left when I arrived."

"I see." He closed his eyes, and for a long time, he didn't say anything else. Just as she was beginning to think he had slipped back into unconsciousness, he spoke again. "He survived, then?"

Despite his best attempt to sound gruff, Mira could tell that the old man was relieved. Though it pained her deeply, she tried a normal smile. "It'll take more than that to stop Laxus."

"What happened? What did that brat do?"

"He…" She went with honesty. "He attempted to use Fairy Law to stop Phantom Lord. It failed, and he was beaten quite badly."

"Fairy Law, huh?" It was a very bad sign that Makarov didn't even have the energy to be outraged. "That fool. He's not ready for something like that. He doesn't understand what it means. And he's too young to even dream about being Master of Fairy Tail."

"Yeah…" Mira agreed, because it was all she could do.

* * *

An unearthly wail of despair announced the arrival into the fray of Phantom Lord's Master. Unlike with the earlier fight, there was no need for him to sit this one out – and nor did he want to. For all the trouble they had caused him up to now, he wanted to wreak destruction upon Fairy Tail with his own two hands.

With him came the shades. Wraiths of darkness, they appeared from nowhere and descended upon his opponents, darkening the bright afternoon literally as well as metaphorically. They were as insubstantial as clouds, yet their touch was that of the grave, draining energy from anyone who got too close.

They ought to have been easy prey for those specializing in ranged attacks – Alzack, who was covering for the magic-bereft Natsu and Happy, wasted no time in putting bullets through the three of them heading for his companions. But the shades which burst apart under his attacks simply reformed once again. As long as Jose still had magic power remaining they were indestructible, and the magic supply of a Wizard Saint might as well have been infinite.

"Natsu!" Alzack cried out in warning, but the Dragon Slayer, even more used to battle than his older companion, had already seen the danger.

Natsu dived to one side, rolling immediately back to his feet. "I hear you," he declared. "The only way to stop these guys is to destroy them at their source!"

"Don't even think about it, the way you are!" Alzack warned.

Natsu just grinned. "As if I'm going to pass up this chance to prove I'm the strongest in Fairy Tail! Happy, come on!"

"Aye, sir!"

"Natsu…" he tried, but it was too late; the Dragon Slayer had already run off.

Jose wasn't difficult to find. They wouldn't have had a hard time locating his overwhelming magical presence even if he wasn't firing off bolts of darkness in all directions and laughing maniacally, as if his sanity had been destroyed along with his prized mechanical headquarters. No one could get close to him – no one except Natsu, who seemed to experience less fear the stronger his opponent was. With no regard for his own safety, he barrelled through the shades surrounding Jose and aimed an overenthusiastic flying kick at the enemy Master's head.

Jose gave a cruel smile. "Pathetic." Effortlessly, he caught Natsu's outstretched foot in his hand. Before gravity had a chance to kick in, a magic seal burst into existence around Jose's wrist, launching a beam of purple darkness large enough to completely engulf Natsu's body.

He howled as he was flung away, but what should have been a shout of pain became one of triumph. "Happy, now!"

Once his seemingly-random Requips had kitted him out with Erza's Heaven's Wheel Armour, Happy had decided that the practical thing to do was to stop trying to Requip and stick with what he had. As a result, he bounded out from behind Natsu, who he had been using as cover, and could dash towards Jose with blade already in hand.

The surprise only lasted for a moment. A cluster of shades intercepted Happy's wild swing; Erza would have cut through them easily but the cat didn't have anywhere near her ability. Nor did he have her expertise, freezing at the unexpected development and allowing Jose to strike him with his full power before Happy could even land an attack.

"So disappointing," Jose smirked. "Is _this_ the power of Fairy Tail's Titania?"

"No. This is!" In a battle between mages, no one had noticed the little blue cat creeping up by Jose's feet. Erza sank her teeth into his ankle. He gave a shout more of surprise than of pain. He aimed a kick at her but she had already scampered beyond his reach, having achieved her intention. "Go! Gray!"

"Ice Make: Geyser!" Having crossed the battlefield at Erza's request, Gray had used the distraction she provided to position himself perfectly to complete their impromptu four-person team attack. Shards of ice burst up from the ground around Jose, sealing him within a crystalline prison.

"And _that's_ how it's done," Gray said smugly, turning back to Natsu.

"Hey! I didn't ask for your help!" his rival objected. "Don't go intruding on my fights!"

"You would have been-"

Only Gray never got to finish his retort, as his attention was drawn by the light blazing within his prison of ice. His eyes widened. "No!"

Then his creation shattered. Bolts of writhing darkness struck the four of them in quick succession, the overwhelming pain driving the hardened warriors to their knees. " _This_ is the best that Fairy Tail has to offer?" Jose demanded. Their weakness no longer amused him; it was an irritation. "Makarov! Where are you? Get out here and face me yourself!"

Natsu's finger twitched. "There's no need… for Gramps to bother… with the likes of you!" His fist thudded into the ground. "I'm not finished yet!"

There was something akin to disgust on Jose's face as another bolt of his magic pierced Natsu's prone form, immediately silencing his protests. "Makarov!" he tried again. "I never knew the Master of Fairy Tail was such a coward! Letting your little Fairies fight for you, while you take the chance to flee, are you?"

"Shut up."

At that command, even the turmoil of the battle seemed to subside. Laxus strode across the plaza, his gaze fixed on Jose. Combatants scrambled to get out of his way. He was trembling with rage. "I am the strongest in Fairy Tail. If you want to fight, then fight me!"

Jose let out a laugh. "Laxus Dreyar, Makarov's grandson. Haven't you learnt your lesson by now? You can't possibly hope to defeat me with magic you can't even control."

"Laxus…" murmured Erza. He himself said nothing, only continued his defiant march towards his chosen opponent.

"You are not your grandfather! You don't have even a fraction of his power! There's no way you can ever stand against me!"

Laxus broke into a run. Every step cracked the paving stones beneath his feet; each harsh breath drew more and more magic to him.

Jose almost sighed. "Come, then. If you're so determined to die, I'll crush you first, and then I'll deal with your grandfather."

* * *

"What's going on out there?"

Peering out through the door, Mira tried to sum up the scene as best she could to the Master. "Phantom Lord attacked us with their Jupiter Cannon, but Gray and Lucy managed to reflect the blast back, and destroy their headquarters in the process. They wouldn't give up, though. There's a full war going on out there, between them and those of us who can still fight. Even Master Jose has joined in."

"He-!" A fit of coughing temporarily interrupted Makarov's words. "I've got to stop him!"

He pushed himself into a sitting position. Alarmed, Mira began to protest, only to stop abruptly when Makarov's magic power suddenly spiked again. The old man bent over, clutching at his chest; his breathing was ragged and painful. With great effort, he managed to suppress his own power again, though the force of it was causing him to break out into a cold sweat.

"You're not going anywhere," Mira told him firmly. She wouldn't normally talk back to the Master – not because she was afraid of him, but because she trusted his wisdom and his judgement. This, however, was madness. He couldn't go out there the way he was. "You've got to stay here and rest."

"While my children are fighting?" the Master demanded, and she felt his words resonate painfully within her own chest. Her objections were swallowed by her guilt, and he seized the chance to swing his legs out from underneath the covers.

No sooner had his feet touched the cold ground than another violent shiver wracked his body. Ripples of stray magic shimmered like a heat haze in the air around him. Mira remembered what Mystogan had said about Makarov's condition, and her worry intensified. As soon as it subsided, she pushed him forcefully back down onto the pillow.

Despite his most ferocious stare, she held her ground. It would have been a lot harder to resist him had he been in his own body, but this she could just about deal with. "You can't go out there the way you are. You'll be as much of a danger to our own side as you will be to Master Jose."

Some part of him understood the truth in what she was saying. He was experienced enough to know what was happening to him, at least to some extent. He closed his eyes, unable to maintain any semblance of his stern façade in the face of such dismay. "But who else will defeat Jose?"

Mira cast a glance to the outside world. Her eyes confirmed what she had already guessed from the silence that had descended upon the battlefield: Laxus was challenging Jose. "Laxus will," she told him, and no one was more surprised than she at the confidence in her voice.

Makarov's expression became once more disapproving, as it usually did at any mention of his rebellious grandson. "That young fool. He'll be destroyed in an instant."

As harsh as it was, his judgement had the ring of truth to it. She had seen how Laxus had been after his failed attempt to invoke Fairy Law; whatever magic power he had managed to dredge up since then surely wouldn't be enough to even scratch a Wizard Saint. And with the confrontation of just a few minutes ago fresh in her mind, she concluded that it was probably for the best. He was unstable right now; dangerous fury had him in its icy grasp, and it was enough to turn even friendship into fear.

But…

Despite everything, she wanted to believe in Laxus.

When they were backed into a corner, people reacted in different ways. Some, like Natsu, used their fear to turn weakness into strength, and in doing so became a danger not just to their foes, but also to themselves. Some, like Erza – before Changeling had happened – found it impossible to give up while their friends depended on them.

In reality, though, very few people were like that. Most would freeze, or run, or at the very least lose the will to fight. It was the natural human reaction. She herself had lost her ability to use magic through trauma; her younger brother had fared only slightly better. No one could predict how they would respond to true peril when it came – and this was danger not just to themselves, but to their livelihoods, their family, their pride; everything they had ever known.

The fate of the guild had backed Laxus into a corner. In fact, it was worse for him than for everyone else, because those cursed by Changeling had an excuse for their defeats. It was impossible for those who prided themselves on their power to accept that defeat was inevitable against a stronger opponent, and no one felt that pride as much as Laxus, Makarov's grandson, and the strongest in Fairy Tail. If the failure of a retreat and the defeat of the entire guild as well as just him had helped to salvage his ego after the first fight, then his failure to cast Fairy Law in full view of everyone and his subsequent humiliation by Jose had utterly demolished it. It wasn't just that he had failed, but that everyone had seen him do it.

The only response possible was hatred – hatred of himself; of his own weakness. And that manifested outwardly as fury, projected onto those around him. Who wouldn't act hostile and defensive in such a situation? Mira, who empathized with everyone, thought she could understand a little of what was driving him.

And yet there he was, challenging the enemy leader, even though there was no way on earth he could win. After all he had been through, he was there fighting for everyone, wasn't he?

Mira, who saw the best in everyone, and was always there to support them, couldn't bring herself to see Laxus as dangerous. She couldn't be afraid of a friend. She couldn't stay angry at someone she trusted; at someone she had to believe was fighting for them. Otherwise it would be the same as admitting she had been wrong all along.

She had done this to him, after all. She had dragged him into this, against her better judgement, against – she was certain of it now – the feelings of the Master himself. So how could she go back on her decision now? How could she just turn away and stop trusting him? She would see it through. She had to believe that she had been right; she had to put her faith in Laxus until the end.

Makarov was saying, "I guess that's it, then. There's nothing we can do."

Her heart in her mouth, Mira responded, "No. There _is_ something we can do."

* * *

Laxus didn't care any more. He was too incensed to make rational decisions. Against his better judgement, he had thrown his lot in with his guild, despite how pathetic he had known they were; now, because of the old man's obstinacy, he would fall alongside them. He blamed them for being weak; he blamed his grandfather for being a fool; he blamed himself for making the mistake of siding with his guild and condemning himself to their fate. The thought of fleeing didn't even cross his mind. This was fury as he had never known it before. He would turn it into power through sheer force of will and fight until, one way or another, he was the last one standing.

He had tapped into his Artificial Dragon Slayer powers without conscious thought. This was no time for secrecy, even with his entire guild watching; he had to go all out just to stay alive. His magic power was rising inexplicably when he should have had nothing left to draw upon. Faint golden light traced out the patterns of scales along his bare arms as energy from his Dragon Force surged through his body, allowing him to power through the waves of darkness Jose aimed at him without trouble. In no time at all he had crossed the distance between them, and he lunged at the enemy, golden magic blazing around his fist.

Jose sidestepped easily. Laxus's momentum drove him onwards, but not once was he vulnerable; as Jose tried to strike him he slipped into his lightning form in between heartbeats and darted out of the way. More fundamental even than his rage, some instinct was screaming at him to conserve his energy. As soon as he was clear of danger, he returned to his physical form. The friction of his booted feet against the ground changed his direction, rather than magic power; with his own strength he sprung back towards his opponent, focussing his magic into a mighty Lightning Dragon's Roar.

This time, Jose didn't have chance to dodge. Not that he needed to. More of his dark shades materialized in the air around him, forming a barrier thick enough to repel even Dragon Slayer magic. He laughed as the shades dispersed – a creepy sound which cut off abruptly when he noticed that Laxus was nowhere to be seen. Realizing his mistake, he turned an instant too late.

A boost of lightning magic when his opponent had been temporarily blinded by his own defensive technique had brought Laxus behind him. This time, he couldn't miss. His foot drove straight into Jose's side, sending the enemy Guild Master sprawling along the ground.

A scattered cheer emerged from the Fairy Tail supporters. "That's our Laxus!" Natsu marvelled, always one to respect true power, regardless of who was wielding it. "Since when was he a Dragon Slayer, though…?"

Technicalities aside, his observation was right: that speed, that raw strength poured into his attacks, the ease with which he chained together different spells almost on instinct – that was why Laxus was the strongest in a guild renowned for its powerful members.

Nor did he hesitate even for a moment, just because his opponent had been temporarily knocked back. "Lightning Dragon's-" he began decisively, holding out his right hand – only for a tendril of darkness to wrap around his wrist.

Startled, Laxus clenched his fist, urging his lightning to overcome that corrupting influence and shatter Jose's magic. After a long moment the dark chain finally broke apart under the pressure, and he desperately tried to gather the magic power he needed to strike back at Jose. But it was already too late. Phantom Lord's Master was back on his feet, brushing himself down as a second tendril grappled Laxus's other wrist, and a third snaked around his ankle. All humour had gone from his countenance.

Laxus's struggles only made things worse. Lethargy seeped into his muscles from the shadows which bound him. There shouldn't have been any magic power left within him for Jose's spell to drain. Another living chain of darkness wrapped itself around his neck, dragging him off the ground.

"Not bad, Makarov's grandson," Jose crowed. "But not good enough, either. You're just as pathetic as the rest of your guild… and this ends now."

* * *

"No," stated Makarov.

"Why not?" Mira challenged.

Of the hundreds of reasons clamouring to be heard inside Makarov's head, he chose the one which, to him, shouted the loudest. "He's not ready. He doesn't understand the responsibilities that come from leading a guild."

The Master's injuries took the formidable edge from his voice. Under these circumstances, Mira wouldn't let herself be intimidated. She had chosen her path. For two years she had done nothing to help the guild; today was the day that she was going to make a difference. "If that's true, then no one will ever be ready. No one can know what it's like to lead a guild until they've done it. And no one can know whether they'll have what it takes or not until they've tried."

He fixed her with a beady-eyed stare. "Do you really think that I've been Master of this guild for forty-eight years and still not know what it takes to have this job? His heart's not in the right place. I refuse to subject the guild to him until he has become more considerate."

"Then you'd rather let Fairy Tail be destroyed?"

"There'll be another way!" Makarov protested. "I'll fight-"

"No, you won't!" Mira told him resolutely. "You can't win like you are now. None of us can – except Laxus. And I think you're wrong about him."

"You think you know my own grandson better than I do?"

"You haven't seen him over the past couple of days!" The memory from earlier flashed into her mind – when she had believed Laxus was going to strike her. She suppressed it with a great effort of will. She couldn't think like that now. She had to focus on the good things. "Who do you think has been leading us against Phantom Lord, since you've been like this?"

"I don't know; you, Erza?"

"It was Laxus! You know this, Master. It can't be me. I'm not even a mage any more; I have no right to lead the guild. Erza is still naïve, and besides, though she's trying her best, she was hit badly by Changeling and she can't be a leader right now. And then there's Mystogan, but while no one doubts his loyalty to the guild, it's almost impossible on a personal level to trust someone whose face you've never even seen!" She took a deep breath; tried to maintain her usual, calm façade. "Besides, everyone knows that Laxus is the strongest in Fairy Tail – and never has he been more so than right now. If you chose anyone else, there'd be outrage."

"But he doesn't understand-"

"He'll learn. I know he will. Everything he did – it was only to protect and to strengthen Fairy Tail. He is the only one who can save us all, and right now, that is more important." Did she really believe the words she herself was saying? It didn't matter any more. She had chosen her path, for better or for worse.

Makarov was silent for a long time. Mira was worried he had fallen unconscious again right at the crucial moment, but then his magic power spiked once more and he opened his eyes with an effort. "Do you really believe in my grandson that much?"

She let out a deep sigh. "No."

" _No?_ "

"If I said yes, it would be a lie. I know that Laxus only stayed to help us against Phantom Lord because I promised he could be Temporary Guild Master while you were out of it."

"You did _what?_ "

She had to do this. For the sake of Fairy Tail's future. She would deal with the consequences later.

"I know. But because of that, he fought alongside everyone in the first battle, working as part of a team under Erza's guidance. He encouraged everyone to stay, when they were going to flee at the sight of our opponent. And he challenged Jose on his own – twice! – even though he is almost completely out of magic power! What are these, if not the actions of a Guild Master?

"No, I'm not certain he'll be a good Master. This may be the worst decision I've ever made. I truly understand your misgivings, and believe me, there's no one I would rather see leading Fairy Tail than you! But it isn't you that Fairy Tail needs right now – it's Laxus. I honestly believe that right here, right now, he is the only hope this guild has of living to fight another day. Just because you fear that future doesn't mean you have the right to deny everyone else the chance to go there!"

And Makarov was silent for far too long.

* * *

Laxus's eyes shot open. " _I will not lose!_ "

Sheer hatred drew energy from the void and channelled it into his limbs. For the last time, he shattered the barrier in his mind and became one with his magic, abandoning his physical form and becoming a bolt of pure energy. The dark tendrils attempted desperately to contract around his limbs but no one was as fast as he was in his lightning form. He blazed towards Jose, putting everything he had into this one final attack.

But his opponent just smiled. "I thought you might try that," he breezed. And then, with contrasting severity: "Dead Wave."

From the dark magic seal at Jose's hand emerged an enormous beam of magic, focussed by his will into an intensely powerful ray. It tore through Laxus's attack like it was nothing. There was an enormous explosion, and by the time the flare of light had vanished, it was clear for all to see what the outcome of the battle was.

Laxus lay face-first on the ground. His Dragon Force had broken apart; his body was beaten; he didn't appear, at first glance, to even be breathing. One twitching finger was the only sign of life.

Jose, on the other hand, was completely unharmed. His face bore a chilling smile. "It's over, Fairy Tail," he announced, completely at ease. The Fairy Tail mages glanced at each other. No one could gather the conviction to disagree with him. Jose continued, "Where is your Master?"

No one answered. They avoided his eyes, or shrugged half-heartedly. Displeased, Master Jose repeated, "Where is he? Makarov! Come out here and watch the destruction of your guild, you coward!"

Once again, nothing broke the silence. Jose taunted, "Such disloyalty to your own guild! You hide while your mages fight for you, and yet you call yourself a Guild Master, Makarov?"

The only response was a sound so strange that for a moment, no one could figure out what it was. Half-choking, half-gasping, muffled by dirt; Laxus was laughing. Every breath caused him intense pain, and yet he couldn't stop his shoulders from shaking with mirth. "He did it," he murmured, voice laced with a hybrid of astonishment and glee. "He actually did it. And there I was certain I'd have to wait for the old man to die."

"What's so funny?" Jose demanded.

Laxus pushed himself up into a crouch, so he could meet the other's eyes. "He doesn't."

"He doesn't what?"

"The old man. He doesn't call himself a Guild Master. Not any more."

"What are you talking about?"

Laxus stood up straight. No amount of pain could suppress the ecstasy of triumph. "Makarov Dreyar isn't the Master of Fairy Tail. I am."

A quiet murmuring began amongst the assembled audience, rising swiftly to a roar of noise. Jose, even more confused than those around him, didn't know what to make of the situation. Laxus was bluffing, wasn't he?

The new uncertainty in Jose's laugh was audible. "Don't be ridiculous. You're not a Guild Master. Just because you're Makarov's grandson you think you're so powerful, but you couldn't even defeat me!"

Laxus just smiled.

Jose tried, "Makarov would never-"

And then he stopped. Now he could feel it. Laxus's magic power was soaring. How was that possible? That defeat had completely drained him of energy, and now all of a sudden his magic power had not only recovered but was growing exponentially, to the level of a Wizard Saint and beyond. He couldn't believe what his senses were telling him. It was just not possible. Panicking, Jose flung a bolt of darkness at the other, but a blast of lightning turned it aside effortlessly. Laxus didn't even have to command it; so great was his magical presence now, it moved to protect him of its own accord.

Laxus's Fairy Tail mark was glowing. All across the plaza, everyone's was doing the same, shining in unison like a hundred prismatic stars. He could feel it: this was everyone's magic power, in the palm of his hand. This was the ability to protect Fairy Tail. This was everybody's desire to live, come together in him. This was the legacy of the previous three Masters of Fairy Tail, now his, to do with it what he wished.

"How- how is this possible?" Jose demanded.

"Didn't I tell you?" Laxus said, unable to suppress a savage grin. "I'm the Master of Fairy Tail."

The magic around him rose to a crescendo. Holy golden light appeared at his right hand and his left. He didn't have to force it this time; he was its chosen Master, and it came to him out of its own will to protect the guild that had given it life. He brought his hands together in front of his chest. It was painful to look at, and yet so beautiful that no one could look away; that radiant supernova clasped within his hands, yearning to be set free. The heart of Fairy Tail.

With passion blazing as brightly as his magic, Laxus roared, "Don't touch my guild! _Fairy Law!_ "

Then everything ended. The world around them was nothing but light, the sacred light of the Fairies. It beamed down upon them from an enormous magic seal blocking out the sky. To the mages of Fairy Tail, it was a warm and comforting light – the happiness of celebrating each other's victories, the comradeship established by fighting alongside each other, the smile welcoming them home, the embrace of beloved family. To those who had thought to destroy Fairy Tail's way of life and crush everything they held dear, it was all these things a hundred times over – and the refusal of the guild to give up any of them – and it was overwhelming.

That sacred light scoured everything in its path, crushing the members of Phantom Lord who had tried to harm its own. It tore through any meagre defensive magic they could summon as if it was nothing. Not a single enemy was spared. Against Jose, Laxus brought to bear the full devastating power of Fairy Law, paying him back a hundred times over for the humiliation he had caused him. This spell was his alone to command; he forced holy magic into the other's body until Jose couldn't take it any more, and even then he didn't stop, power surging at the sound of his enemy's piercing screams.

And then, as soon as it had begun, it was over. The light vanished, its power spent. With it went the noise and fury of battle, leaving behind nothing but a resounding silence. Laxus's magic power had returned to normal; slowly, he let his hands fall back to his side.

Phantom Lord had been utterly destroyed. Its mages lay scattered and broken, stripped of their magic power and any will to fight. Jose had suffered the worst. Fairy Law had brought him to within an inch of death; now he lay on the ground, unable to think of anything except the need to keep drawing breath into his screaming lungs. Though killing was anathema to Fairy Tail's magic, it was also shaped heavily by the influence of its caster, and this caster had been merciless. Jose might one day be able to use magic again, but such a recovery would be a long time in coming.

Fairy Tail were equally silent, though for a somewhat different reason. They had won, but what were they to make of their victory? No one doubted Laxus's declaration that he was now their Master – not since the response of their guild marks to his Fairy Law – but nor did anyone truly understand what had happened. Was this Makarov's will? Not one of them had ever imagined they would see a Fairy Tail without him at its head. It just wasn't right. This was the price they had paid for their victory, and no one yet knew quite what it meant.

One thing was certain: with the defeat of Phantom Lord, a new era of Fairy Tail had begun. Their time was not yet over, and they would live to dare the future, and to change it. From the ashes of the former guild, amidst the ruins of its once-proud guildhall, they would rise again; from the jaws of defeat, they had taken back their future. That, at least, was something worth celebrating.

After what seemed like an eternity of stunned silence, someone let out a cheer. Realization hit the members of Fairy Tail one after another: it was over. They had won. The cheer became a roar of victory, which became a tide of noise, sweeping up everyone within its elation.

Happy hugged Natsu. Gray hugged Lucy. Loke high-fived Cana, while Elfman proudly declared victory. Even Erza smiled. Everywhere there was singing and dancing and elation bordering on hysteria, for no one could truly comprehend that despite the odds stacked against them, they had actually won. It was a wonderful feeling, one most had accepted had been lost forever, and they expressed it as loudly as they could, singing this proof of their existence towards the sky lest they ever forget it again.

And in the centre of the devastation, surrounded by his guild, something also stirred in the heart of their new Master. Above the joyous exclamations and triumphant chanting there rose something else: ascending from the light and soaring towards the heavens, the sound of Laxus's laughter.

Few people heard, and even fewer could tell it apart from the jubilation of the rest of the guild. On the edge of the celebrations, however, Mira heard it loud and clear over the clamour, and recognized it within her heart. It was with fear in her eyes that she murmured, "What have I done?"

* * *

Fairy Tail, because they were Fairy Tail, were gracious in victory; they needed no prompting to help the defeated members of Phantom Lord to their feet. They assembled makeshift stretchers and improvised vehicles to help those who were relatively unharmed to transport their wounded home. They knew they no longer had anything to fear from this enemy, and would gladly show them the kindness they would offer to their own guild in times of trouble.

What would become of Phantom Lord now, no one could say. Their headquarters had been destroyed, and after the battle earlier that day, their official guildhall wasn't in a much better state. The likelihood was they had a number of other, smaller buildings scattered around; they would probably take their wounded there, and lay low until their injuries had recovered. Maybe they would build their guild up again from the ground; do things differently this time around. Maybe they wouldn't have the courage to face that future – the future that had almost been Fairy Tail's. Maybe, once they caught wind of what had happened, the Magic Council wouldn't give them the choice.

When the last of their former enemies had left the premises, Fairy Tail threw a party. It was, after all, what they did best.

Long tables were salvaged from the ruins of the guildhall and dragged out onto the plaza. Dusty kegs of ale were brought up from the basement. Several groups ventured into the centre of Magnolia and returned pulling carts loaded with food of all kinds, much to the amazement of the town's shopkeepers. In no time at all, the battlefield had been transformed into a celebratory feast. The cries of despair were replaced by raucous laughter and friendly banter. Everyone joined in. Even the injured could forget their pain, because this was what Fairy Tail was all about.

The members of Fairy Tail's strongest team were clustered around the head of one long table, eating ravenously and chatting away as if the guild war was already nothing but a distant memory. "So, Gray," Natsu began, a dangerous glint in his eyes as he turned towards his friend and rival.

"Yeah?"

"You and Lucy managed to undo Changeling, huh?" The way he said it, it sounded almost like an accusation.

"Yeah. And there's no point in asking. I don't know how it happened." Initially he had taken offence at Natsu's tone, as usual, but his retaliatory retort had vanished along with his concentration. Out of the corner of his eye, he had seen Lucy, who had been relatively subdued since the start of the feast, slip away from the table. It was only with some effort that he had managed to bring his attention back to the others at all.

"But you must know _something_ ," Erza persisted.

"Uhh…" Gray tried to think back. It was difficult to remember anything over the growing concern that something was wrong with Lucy. "Maybe it was the synchronized stripping?"

Happy immediately jumped to his feet. "Erza, let's do it!"

"Don't you dare!"

Under her glare, Happy cowered back into his seat. "Scary…"

"Somehow, I don't think that was it," Erza sighed. "What else? Didn't you use magic together?"

"Hmm?" That did it. He wasn't going to just let Lucy disappear like that without warning, when something was clearly up. He just needed a distraction… "Yeah, we taught each other our different kinds of magic. Maybe combining our powers like that was what overcame Changeling."

"Let's try it!" Natsu sprung to his feet. "Loke! Where are you?" He glanced around for the other, but to no avail; not unusually, he was nowhere to be seen.

"I don't think I've seen him since the battle," Erza added.

Natsu let out a disappointed sigh. "Gray-" He turned back to the other, only to do a double take. "Whoa! Gray's turned to ice!" Experimentally he prodded the Gray-shaped statue of ice sat next to him. A crack ran along it, and then, under Natsu's astonished gaze, the entire figure disintegrated. "Umm…"

"I think he ditched you, Natsu," Happy told him sagely.

"What? That jerk! Where did he go?"

"I wasn't watching," Erza lied.

"Huh. Just wait until he returns; I'll make him pay for walking out on me like that!" He glanced around, and blinked twice. "Wait a minute, where's Lucy?"

Happy sighed. " _Now_ you notice?"

Natsu was thinking hard. "Lucy… and then Gray…" And then his voice became a roar that temporarily deafened everyone at the table. " _Whaaat?_ "

* * *

It didn't take Gray long to find Lucy. He called out to her as she walked alongside the canal; recognizing his voice, she stopped and waited for him to catch up. The smile she greeted him with was a distracted one, so Gray responded by skipping the pleasantries altogether. "What's wrong? Where are you going?"

Lucy began walking again, so he fell into step beside her. "I'm going home," she told him simply.

"Wait, what? Lucy! You can't leave! Didn't I tell you? Fairy Tail is your home!"

She looked at him with exasperation. "Yeah, that's really not what I meant."

"…It's not?"

"Of course not." She couldn't help laughing at his blank expression. "I've decided I'm going to tell the guild my secret. I mean, you're right and it won't change anything, but I think I'd feel better if everyone knew. But before that, I'm going to talk to my father. When I left home, I… well, I just ran away without warning. I guess that's why he thinks he has the right to hire guilds like Phantom Lord to snatch me right back. I'm going to tell him that this is the path I've chosen in life, and I won't change it for anything. And if he dares to try something like that again, we'll be enemies. I need to tell him that myself."

"…Oh," he said, feeling foolish.

"Sorry if I worried you," she added. "I had to sneak away, because I didn't want everyone making a fuss over me. This is my battle, and I want to sort it out for myself before I start involving other people."

There was silence. When he didn't seem to get the hint, Lucy reiterated, "I'm fine, so you can go back to the guild now."

"I'm coming with you," Gray told her readily.

"Gray-"

"No, I know this is something you have to do yourself. You have to tell him how you feel, and I'm not going to interfere with that. But that doesn't mean you have to be alone, Lucy. I'll be right there with you. That's what friends are for, right? Not to fight the battle for you, but to be there supporting you while you fight it yourself."

For a moment, he feared he had upset her. But then she turned to face him, and though her eyes sparkled with tears, her face was lit up by a brilliant smile. "Yeah. Thank you, Gray." She gave a nervous laugh. "You'll have to wait outside the house, though. There's no way I'm going to introduce you to my father when you're dressed like that."

Gray blinked down at himself. Lucy had been putting it politely. By 'dressed like that', she really meant 'basically not dressed at all'. "Damn! I must have left my clothes back at Fairy Tail…"

And then Lucy was laughing. She skipped on ahead of him; mirth and cheer had banished all the doubt from her heart. If Gray was still stripping without realizing it, then all was right with the world. She was glad that she wasn't alone, more so than she could ever say, and she could go and face her father with the conviction her younger self had lacked.

* * *

Gray watched the sunset from underneath a tree. All the land he could see belonged to Lucy's family, and the warm light painted the fields and hills with streaks of gold. It wasn't the rural mountain wilderness he was used to, but he supposed it had its own sort of beauty. He could be content sitting there on the grass, watching the evening slowly fall while he waited for Lucy to return from the mansion.

She had been gone a while, but he didn't doubt that she would return. When he heard her voice shouting his name, he stood up and stretched leisurely. Time to go home.

"Did you tell him?" he asked, unnecessarily. It was unnecessary because he knew she had done – partly from the tears that had not yet dried on her cheeks, partly from the spring in her step and the happiness of freedom radiating from her every action, and partly because he had never doubted that she would be able to do it.

"I did," she confirmed. "I'm not sure I would have been able to if you weren't here for me."

"Of course you would," he corrected her, sheepish but still sincere. "You're a Fairy Tail mage, aren't you?"

Lucy grinned. "Yeah, I am. But even so, Gray… thank you." She hugged him, and then immediately turned away, pretending not to notice his embarrassment. "Let's go back to Fairy Tail!" she announced cheerfully.

"Y-Yeah," he stammered, and then he laughed. With their enemies vanquished, and their battles – personal and otherwise – won, he supposed this was what they called a happy ending. Why the hell not? It was time to go and celebrate properly. "Let's go back home."

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Indeed, a happy ending. Thanks to Fairy Law, the war is over and the guild has been saved. Lucy and Gray have switched back from Changeling, proving that it is doable and possibly opening the way for further research on the matter. Lucy's personal battle has been won. Things are starting to look up for Fairy Tail. _

_Or are they? The guildhall remains a wreck, the repercussions from the Council for engaging in an illegal inter-guild war have yet to be seen, and above all, in return for their victory, the guild has been left in the hands of a dangerous, moody and unpredictable Laxus who has yet to learn the lessons of his exile in canon. This story is far from over. Next week begins the two-part transition section that will wrap up this arc and set up the next one, and I hope you continue to enjoy it as things really start getting serious._

 _A side note on Fairy Law here. Concepts have power; Fairy Tail as an institution is itself magic, originating from the belief of its members in the abstract concept of a guild. I enforced the rule that Fairy Law can only be used by the Master to emphasize this. It can't be cast arbitrarily here, like Laxus throws it around during canon's Battle of Fairy Tail. Rather, it can only be called when the guild as a whole is in danger, but when that condition is met, he can draw upon the power of the guild itself - in practice, the combined magic of all its members - in order to use it, to devastating effect._ _I'm not sure that switching over Guild Masters is supposed to be quite as dramatic an affair as it is here, but I had fun writing it. And it works in the sense that it isn't just a title being passed on, but Fairy Tail itself, and all the unique magic that that entails. Hope that makes sense to people who aren't me._

 _And that's quite enough rambling from me. Thanks for reading! ~CS_


	8. Long in the Darkness of Night

_**A/N:** Chapter Eight. Another long chapter this time, but I do have about seven days to cover here. They'll be returning to normal length soon! ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Eight: Long in the Darkness of Night**

The day after their happy ending, Makarov was summoned before the Magic Council.

The decision that Mira should go in his place was almost unanimous – in fact, the only person who opposed it was Mira herself, who doubted her own ability to stand up for Fairy Tail as Makarov would have done. Despite this, everyone else had faith in her, so since it was for the guild she gave in and accepted her role without complaint.

Technically, as the summons had addressed the Master of Fairy Tail, it should have been Laxus's job to deal with the Council. However, no one, not even Laxus himself, thought that announcing his new position to the Council at that moment in time was a good idea. Makarov had a long history with the Council – not all of it was good, of course, but they had still named him a Wizard Saint; even if they didn't fully trust him, they did at least acknowledge his ability and authority. They would not have such respect for his unruly grandson.

Besides, questions as to the reasons behind Makarov's abrupt retirement would have been difficult to answer without giving away the guild's vulnerability after the Changeling fiasco. Not to mention, Laxus's first act as Guild Master had been to engage in an illegal inter-guild war, severely damage Phantom Lord's property, and unleash a powerful destructive magic that almost wiped out a hundred people. It was probably best that Fairy Tail kept their new Master a secret for the time being.

Makarov was willing to go, of course, but that was out of the question. Even without the problem of explaining why he was in Mira's body without arousing the suspicions of the Council, he was still a long way short of full recovery. His periods of consciousness were longer, and his magic power was spiking less frequently, but even so, making the long journey to Era was just too great a risk.

So the task had fallen to Mirajane.

Before departure, Makarov had drilled her in the basics of dealing with the Council. It wasn't the most useful lecture she had ever been given – by the sounds of things, if she even managed to stay awake for the entire hearing she would be acting out of character for Makarov. On the other hand, though he was a maverick, he was also crafty; it was no coincidence that such a troublesome guild had thrived for so long under him, despite the best efforts of the Magic Council to shut them down. It was because of him that Mira could not only put names to all the faces she saw before her, but also had a good idea of how to deal most effectively with each one.

Not that they were about to let her get a word in. She was beginning to see why Makarov tended to doze off during his hearings – the Council members were perfectly happy arguing amongst themselves, paying her no attention at all.

"This situation is utterly unacceptable," Org was saying. The severe, elderly man was in theory the second most powerful person on the Council – most powerful, currently, as the Chairman was absent from the meeting. He was also Fairy Tail's most vocal opponent. "We have let Fairy Tail go too far too often, and this is the result. They must be forced to disband!"

"On the contrary," interjected a smooth voice. "Fairy Tail have broken no laws."

Org's face was a picture of outrage. "They went to war against a legal guild! Short of explicitly going Dark, there is no worse crime they could have committed!"

"Phantom Lord started the war. Jose Porla has already confessed."

"That does not excuse the actions of Fairy Tail-"

"Oh, but it does. Phantom Lord declared war on a legal guild – what is that, if not the action of a Dark Guild? You could even say that in taking up arms against them, Fairy Tail were acting to defend the Magic Council, and everything that we stand for."

Fairy Tail's unexpected ally on the Magic Council was none other than Siegrain. The handsome, blue-haired youth was utterly confident within himself; all throughout that exchange with his elder and superior, his smile hadn't slipped once. Mira should have been happy that there were people on the Council willing to argue on their behalf, but when their champion was Siegrain, she was not at all reassured. Charismatic, self-assured, and powerful – one of the youngest people ever to have been awarded the title of Wizard Saint, not to mention having been appointed to the Council at his age – on the surface, she couldn't have asked for a better ally, but she just could not bring herself to like him.

During her briefing earlier, Makarov had been able to tell her very little about Siegrain. What he did give her was a warning: don't trust him. But he had been unable to give her a solid reason why, and Mira, who got on with everyone, and always tried to see the best in people, had resolved to make her own judgement on the matter. It hadn't taken her long to reach the same conclusion Makarov had. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but he had certainly been far too eager to take her side.

Besides, Fairy Tail could speak for itself. _She_ could speak for herself. If only they would stop arguing amongst themselves and give her the chance to defend her guild.

"Fairy Tail, acting in _our_ interests? Preposterous! They have been a thorn in our side since the start!" Michello took up the baton against Siegrain. If Mira remembered correctly, he and Org had been the ones who had brought the charges against her – well, against Makarov – in the first place.

"If I can-" Mira spoke up hesitantly, but the Council members appeared not to notice.

"Have you already forgotten the Lullaby incident?" As smug as ever, Siegrain was completely undaunted by Michello's challenge. "Fairy Tail saved the lives of all the Guild Masters, not to mention the reputation of the Magic Council."

Org retorted, "Past actions cannot forgive current crimes-"

"Though, apparently, one can still be accused of them," Siegrain countered dryly.

"Quite so." The frosty response of one too accustomed to power.

"May I speak?" Mira interjected, but she might as well not have bothered.

Michello said, "Returning to the matter at hand, gentlemen – why has no one brought up the issue of Fairy Tail's conduct during the war? In particular, the use of the Great Fairy Magic, Fairy Law." A murmur ran around the assembled figures; all of them knew the name of Makarov's most powerful spell. "We cannot overlook such a rash and devastating act. The destruction wrought in such a heavily-populated urban area could have been immense. Makarov, you should have known better."

Mira blinked. She had a sudden urge to laugh. It wasn't even Makarov who had used the spell, let alone her. Still, they seemed to be actually waiting for a response from her – now, of all times! On the spot, her mind went blank. "Umm, I-"

"Fairy Law was used as it was supposed to be used: as a deterrent. It was the only thing that could guarantee an end to the war with no fatalities on either side. You must agree – in a war between mage guilds, that was no mean feat."

At the new speaker's entry into the fray, Mira felt a surge of hope. This was Yajima, Makarov's old and trusted friend; the one person on the Council she could comfortably rely on to have Fairy Tail's best interests at heart. Having said that, she didn't like the intense way he had been scrutinizing her. As someone who knew Makarov well, he would be the most likely person on the Council to spot that she wasn't who she was claiming to be – an issue that hadn't even occurred to her until Makarov had pointed it out earlier.

She could easily get away with pretending to be Makarov in front of Phantom Lord, and around her own guild there were no secrets; she didn't have to pretend at all. Yet if the Magic Council found out she was essentially impersonating the accused… well, that was a criminal offence. Add that to the pile of charges, which started with war and rose up to switching Guild Masters without informing the Council and then intentionally sending the wrong Master to a criminal hearing, and there was no way that Fairy Tail would escape. Her presence here was far more dangerous to her beloved guild than she had thought when she had agreed to go.

"So, Yajima, you place your loyalty to your former guild above your duties to the Council?" Org accused.

"Not at all." Yajima inclined his head respectfully. "I merely speak what I know to be the truth. Were it not for Fairy Tail's prompt resolution of the Phantom Lord matter, we might have had a full-scale conflict on our hands. As with the Lullaby affair, when Makarov acted, intentionally or otherwise, he saved the Council a lot of trouble."

"Can I-?" Mira tried. She was wasting her breath.

"We are never going to get a better chance to force Fairy Tail to disband than right now!" Org burst out. "We can't pass up this opportunity to finally rid ourselves of these pests!"

"Given the evidence, we have no legal reason to disband Fairy Tail," Siegrain pointed out mildly. "Doing so would make a mockery of our own laws."

Org could sense that support was slipping away from his side. If it came to a majority vote, he was doubtful he would win. Yajima would always vote on Fairy Tail's behalf. That arrogant brat Siegrain supported whichever side amused him the most, which was unquestionably the troublemakers Fairy Tail. Ultear, as usual, was utterly bored by the proceedings, and hardly paid them any attention at all – but in the short time that the two of them had been on the Council, he had never known her to vote any way other than with Siegrain.

As for the others… well, Siegrain's argument was a convincing one, especially to those who hadn't been on the Council for as long as he had, and didn't believe him when he tried to convince them of just how much of a threat Fairy Tail was. He was quickly losing support, and both he and Michello knew it.

"You mean to suggest we just let them get away with it?" Michello demanded.

"A nominal fine should suffice to remind Fairy Tail of our authority. More importantly, it will serve to demonstrate that we will be intolerant towards guilds like Phantom Lord which think of disobeying our laws," suggested Siegrain, with a broad smile.

The rest of the Council murmured their assent. Mira, however, froze. A fine? Under ordinary circumstances, she – and Fairy Tail – would have been relieved that the Magic Council had let them off so lightly, but a fine was the last thing they could deal with right now. As if it wasn't bad enough that they were going to have to pay immense sums of money for the extensive repairs that their guildhall needed, not to mention the hospital fees for their wounded, the guild's income had also been severely cut thanks to Changeling robbing their strongest team of its ability to go on any jobs. Well, they didn't have to contend with Natsu and Gray destroying the buildings they were sent out to protect any more, but without Erza's input, or Team Shadow Gear, or the other mages currently recovering in hospital, their financial worries were crippling ones.

Had Siegrain known that when he suggested it? It shouldn't have been possible, and yet Mira found herself suspecting him nonetheless. And if he hadn't known the full impact of his suggestion when he had made it, then he certainly did now; his sharp eyes had caught her reaction and shone even brighter in the darkness of the chamber.

Fairy Tail couldn't deal with this right now. It would suffer, because of her failure. She had let them all down, hadn't she? They had fought the battle and won, when she had only been able to watch from the sidelines; now it was her turn to do something for her guild, and _this_ had happened.

Makarov had assured her that the trial was merely a formality. They would threaten Fairy Tail a little, make a point of showing them who was boss, and then let them go on – as they had done every time before. If it had been Makarov here, dealing with the Council as he always did, Fairy Tail wouldn't have been fined, she was sure of it.

"Wait a minute," she found herself saying. "You can't do this."

All attention immediately turned to her. "Can't do _what_ , exactly?" Org dared her.

"Makarov!" Yajima warned.

Well, she wasn't Makarov, was she? "You can't fine us. We've done nothing wrong. We were attacked out of the blue by a rogue guild acting unlawfully; all we did was defend ourselves from an enemy of the state. On what grounds are you charging us? Which law gives you the right to take money from us like that?"

"We must-" Yajima tried to override her, but she had had enough of being ignored. She only wanted to protect her guild.

"If you must punish anyone, it ought to be Phantom Lord, for they were the ones who instigated this conflict and violated the ban on inter-guild warfare! That's what you should do, if you're going to insist on some meaningless display of power! They attacked us, we fought back, and we won. Phantom Lord were punished for their actions by our hand, acting on behalf of the Magic Council's laws, and that should be the end of it! There is no need for you to get involved other than for the sake of your own egos! This is just pathetic flaunting of your own power to make up for the fact that you did nothing to stop Phantom Lord until we'd already sorted everything out for you!"

There was utter silence in the room. Yajima stared at her with wide eyes. Siegrain couldn't conceal his excitement. Even Ultear seemed to be giving Mira her full attention. No one dared to breathe, waiting for Org to respond.

To their surprise, he smiled. "So, it's not enough that Fairy Tail think to flout our authority. Not content with taking the law into their own hands, they will not rest until they have made their own rules and forced them upon everyone else!"

He glanced around the circle of Council members. "My friends, can there be any doubt now that Fairy Tail is a threat to our authority? It seems they need to be reminded just who is in control here. I think the largest fine in our power to levy upon them will suffice, for the time being. Shall we say… fifty million jewels?"

"But-"

"I think you've said quite enough, Master Makarov."

"We can't possibly pay that much – our guildhall has been destroyed-"

"You ought to have thought about that before you questioned the wisdom and generosity of the Council. And, of course, if you can't pay the penalty within a week, we'll have no choice but to regretfully disband Fairy Tail for good."

"You-" Mira cried bleakly, but as always, it was hopeless.

Org clapped his hands together. "If there are no objections-"

Mira glanced at Siegrain, who gave her a small shrug. Yajima wouldn't meet her gaze. No one raised any objections.

"-then the decision is final."

* * *

Yajima caught up with her as she traipsed out of the building. "Makarov!"

It was a moment or two before she realized the Council member was calling to her, and she stopped with great reluctance. Quite aside from the utter disaster in the hearing – leaving her unwilling to face anyone at that moment in time – she knew she would never be able to pass as Makarov with so much despair in her heart.

"Leaving so soon?" the old man inquired curiously. "Won't you join me for a drink, like usual? It seems the only time I ever see you these days is when you're called to Era for some trial or another."

Trying to sound gruff, Mira replied, "Thanks, but I need to get back to the guild. They'll get into all sorts of trouble without me."

"Some things never change," Yajima grinned, but when he saw Mira wasn't smiling, his own expression was replaced by one of worry. "Makarov, what's wrong?"

"Wrong?" Mira repeated, a little too quickly. "Nothing's wrong. Why would anything be wrong?"

Yajima told her bluntly, "You're not acting like yourself."

"Sorry. I've… got a lot on my mind."

"It's more than that, isn't it? We've been friends for decades, Makarov; do you think I can't tell when something's up?" Mira said nothing. She didn't dare look at him. The old man heaved a sigh. "Then, what was all that about in there?"

"All what?"

He frowned, unable to tell if she was joking or not. "You know what I mean. Speaking out against the Magic Council like that. We've been doing this for a while now; I thought you knew better than that. Don't provoke them, just go along with what they decide, and they'll go easy on you like usual – why jeopardize that now?"

Mira asked, "How can you be on the Council, and yet say things like that? Don't you think that's an abhorrent way of doing things?"

Her words shocked Yajima into silence. Mira's hands were trembling. She knew she shouldn't have said anything, but she remembered the humiliation and the anger she had felt inside that room, and just hadn't been able to stop herself.

He said, carefully, "You know how I feel about this, Makarov. I accepted the appointment to the Magic Council in order to help change how they ran things from the inside, but these things take time. A fairer regime isn't going to happen overnight. I thought you understood that."

"Maybe I had a change of heart," Mira replied. "Now, I really do need to get back to Fairy Tail."

"Wait-"

"We can meet up again when all this is over," she interrupted him. "For now, I have to say farewell."

"…Goodbye, then," Yajima said. He frowned as he watched her walk off in the direction of the station. Though he said nothing more, his eyes never left her receding back until she had disappeared completely from his view.

* * *

Upon returning to the guild, Mira ran into Natsu, Gray and Lucy just outside what was already being called the construction zone. Someone health-and-safety-conscious had put up fences around what used to be their guildhall, warning passers-by of the building work going on within. The architect they had called in had taken one look at the old guildhall's ruins and laughed, so the remainder of the building had been completely demolished. It had taken no time at all to clear the site. Even without his magic, Natsu's talent for destroying things was uncanny. If only the reconstruction would be as easy.

The three of them were each straining under the weight of the piles of bricks they were carrying. Lucy appeared to be complaining loudly at the boys, both of whom took Mira's arrival as an excuse to put down their burdens and turn to greet her.

"Mira, welcome back!" Natsu greeted. "How'd it go with the Council?"

"Dreadfully," came the despondent reply. "Where's Laxus?"

"Uhh… he's gone a job, I think."

Mira blinked at him. "On his own?"

"That's not unusual," remarked Gray.

"I guess not." She gave a faint smile. "I think it just feels weird because the Master rarely went out on jobs… Well, I guess we can't really call him the Master now, can we?"

They all glanced away as the mood of the conversation took a nosedive. In an attempt to change the subject, Lucy inquired, "So, what happened with the Council? I see you're not in prison – that's a good sign, right?"

"Nah, these trials are all for show," Natsu breezed. "Like with Erza that one time. They'd never actually do anything to us."

"And if only you'd reacted so calmly _that_ time…" Lucy muttered.

Mira heaved a sigh. "Actually, this time, it wasn't just for show. They've… they've decided to fine Fairy Tail for our part in the guild war. And it's a significant amount of money."

Natsu shrugged. "Big deal."

"Natsu!"

"From how you were acting, I thought it was going to be much worse." He gave one of his signature, irrepressible grins.

"It _is_ bad, Natsu. We can't afford to pay them. Have you seen the state of the guildhall; of our finances? If we can't pay it in a week, they'll use it as an excuse to close us down for good! There's no way we can afford to pay the fine and the builders right now."

Natsu shrugged. "Cancel the builders."

"Then who's going to rebuild the guildhall?"

"We will," Gray interjected. Mira stared at him, so he clarified, "We've already got the plans from the architect, right? All we need to do is build it. How difficult can it be? We're a mage guild; if anyone can put a building together, it's us."

"But everyone is going to be too busy doing jobs to fit in construction work," she protested. "We've got to take on as many requests as we can to earn the money we need to pay for the building materials, and the fine."

"We'll do both," Lucy joined in. "We'll schedule helping out with the lifting and the building in between doing jobs. It won't be a problem."

"But, even if we can do that, the Fantasia Parade is supposed to begin in just over a week, and we've barely even started work on _that-_ "

Gray shrugged. "Working on costumes and designing floats sounds like an excellent way of winding down in breaks between the manual labour. Besides, it'll be a great distraction for those too injured to go on jobs."

"But – everyone's still exhausted from the war. No one's going to want to work every hour of every day-"

"Hey, Mira," Natsu interrupted, crossly. "Have you already forgotten who you're talking to? We're Fairy Tail! It's the future of our guild at stake here! _Everyone_ is going to want to help! We're all going to do our best for our guild, you'll see!"

Lucy added, "So, don't worry about the guildhall, or about paying that fine, Mira. Fairy Tail will pull through. We always do, right?"

Mira looked at the three earnest faces staring back at her, and smiled. Maybe she had been too hasty in giving up. Seeing their enthusiasm, it was possible to believe that everything would work out, after all.

And so the great effort to rebuild Fairy Tail began.

* * *

The next morning, the fingers of dawn had scarce begun to brush the sky when they assembled at the site of the new guildhall – Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Happy, Erza, and everyone else they had managed to drag out of bed at this hour of the morning. As Natsu had predicted, everyone was eager to help their guild recover.

The Request Board, one of the few relics to have survived the utter destruction of the guildhall, had pride of place beside the entrance to the building site. Never before had the guild been so organized. Under the guidance of Erza and Mira, they arranged themselves into teams and distributed jobs based not on the size of the reward or what each group wanted to do, but on which team was best suited to deal with it quickly and efficiently. Likewise, anyone experienced in construction work, or whose magic lent itself well to organization or to a particular building task, was allocated to the appropriate area.

Erza seemed to have experience in organizing such task forces to maximize their efficiency – something that she clearly didn't seem happy to admit, as when Lucy commented on it in admiration, the warrior-turned-cat walked off without a word. But the Fairy Tail under her, motivated by their shared desire to rebuild their beloved guild, was as different from the usual chaotic Fairy Tail as it was possible to get. There were a handful of half-hearted complaints, but on the whole, they were drowned by the guild's enthusiasm.

Besides, once they began, there was no time for dissent. Lucy, Natsu, Gray and Happy teamed up again, and did no fewer than three jobs in that first day. They had all been relatively quick, local tasks that mostly just involved helping people out – jobs which posed low levels of danger, as despite Gray's insistence that he could handle anything on his own, their team was still heavily compromised by Changeling.

In between jobs, Lucy found herself and her Celestial Spirits carrying bricks about the place, helping to lay foundations, and discovering through trial and error the best way to mix mortar. She learnt more about construction work in one afternoon than she had during the entire rest of her life. She would never have imagined a few months ago, when she had first left her family estate, that she would have ended up doing something like this – and, even more surprisingly, she found that she didn't mind it at all. It was all for the guild that she loved; if this was what it would take to restore everything to normal, then this was what she would do.

That night, she returned to her apartment utterly worn out. So tired was she, in fact, that when she walked in through the door to find Natsu and Happy asleep on her bed, she didn't even have it in her to yell at them. Normally, the sight of the two of them completely out of it like that might have been cute; with Natsu currently being Loke and Happy being Erza, it tended more towards the bizarre end of the spectrum. Even so, the two of them looked just as content lying there as they did when they were themselves. And so, rather than kicking them out of her house, Lucy actually smiled. Then she curled up on the floor with a blanket and promptly fell into an exhausted sleep.

* * *

The second day, it was significantly more difficult to get up early. Lucy felt with groggy certainty that if she had been in her comfortable bed she could easily have slept for another half a day; it was only the hardness of the floor setting into her limbs that encouraged her to get up and dressed with the dawn once again. Once she was ready, she woke Natsu and Happy with some effort, and the three of them returned to Fairy Tail.

There were fewer people there that morning – most were understandably worn out from the previous day's activities. They slowly trickled in as the morning progressed, until by lunchtime they were running at full speed again, alternating jobs to earn money for the guild with establishing firm foundations for their new guildhall to be built on top of.

Lucy had barely finished hammering some metal poles into the ground when Natsu ran up to her, waving a request flier above his head. "Come on, Lucy! We've got a job!"

"You never run out of energy, do you?" she sighed, mopping sweat from her brow.

"Nah, I'm all fired up! This job's going to be the best one yet!"

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but what are we doing this time?"

"Catching a group of bandits!"

"…You sure you don't want to leave that one to, I don't know, one of the other groups?"

"Nope, this is the one, I know it! These other jobs are so dull, it feels like it's been ages since I got to properly fight someone!"

"Okay, three things," began Lucy. "First, it's been like two days since the war finished. Second, you still have no magic, so I'll have to do all the fighting anyway! And third – what kind of person stresses out because they haven't been able to get in a fight for a while?"

"A true Man!" Elfman yelled, running past with several planks of wood resting on his – well, Cana's – slim shoulders.

"Thanks for the input," Lucy grumbled.

"See, Elfman gets it! So, are you coming, Lucy? We're a team, aren't we? We're doing this for the guild!"

"Yes, yes," she sighed.

"Alright!" Natsu sprinted towards the exit, with Lucy trailing behind him reluctantly. He was forced to stop and wait for her to catch up, jogging on the spot next to one of the long tables that some of the other guild members had set up for rest breaks.

Macao was attempting to teach the others at the table how to sew sequins onto one of the costumes for the Parade, though his well-intended efforts seemed to be causing more harm than good to the outfit, and he was on the verge of giving up. Most of the fabric had been already abandoned by the others in favour of the less stressful task of drinking coffee and reading newspapers. They looked up at Natsu's approach, grateful for the distraction.

"Heading out again, Natsu?" Nab asked, with no small amount of admiration.

"Sure am! This is no time to be sitting around, when Fairy Tail needs me!"

Nab's face fell; both Macao and Wakaba laughed good-naturedly. The latter added, "Don't be too harsh on Nab. He did more jobs yesterday than he's done the entire time he's been in the guild."

"Hey! You know I've just been waiting for the right job to come along! Besides, it's not like you two can talk; you're not working either!"

Macao folded his arms. "Well, when you're as old as Wakaba, you just can't go at full tilt any more. He doesn't have the energy that he did when he was younger. It's up to the lively youths of today to pick up the slack-"

"Hey!" the other interrupted. "Are you calling me old?"

"I'm only saying it as it is."

"You looking for a fight?"

Lucy sighed, having at last caught up with Natsu. "Those two are as bad as you and Gray! Come on, Natsu, let's get out of here."

Macao and Wakaba broke off their argument to wave them off. "Good luck, Lucy, Natsu!"

"Thanks!" he yelled back. "Don't forget to do some work yourselves!"

"Sure, sure, in a minute!"

* * *

That night, Lucy was so exhausted that she completely forgot to check if there was a Natsu asleep in her bed before collapsing onto it, fully-clothed. Fortunately for her, there wasn't, and she immediately fell into a deep sleep.

On the morning of the third day, it was her turn to be woken by Natsu. His enthusiasm had been barely diminished by hard work and insufficient sleep; he shook her awake with far more energy than anyone ought to have possessed at that ungodly hour of the morning. Nor would he accept her half-awake protests, refusing to leave her alone until they and Happy were stood once more before the building site at the crack of dawn.

This time, there was no one else there. The long days and short nights were getting to everyone but Natsu, Lucy realized. Of course people would be cutting back to ordinary working hours. No one had the kind of superhuman endurance needed to keep this up – except for her teammate, of course. It was just her luck that she was the one landed with him.

"What? Where is everyone?" Natsu was saying.

"Yeah, Natsu, I'm going to go back and sleep for a couple more hours. I'll start when everyone else gets here."

"But Lucy, we've got the first pick of jobs!"

"You go do one, then," she yawned. "I'm going to go take a nap."

"Fine. Happy, let's go!"

"…Actually, I'm with Lucy on this one."

"Oh, come on!"

"Natsu," Lucy murmured. "How is it that you have so much energy?"

He thought for a moment. "Because it's just like training! Running about all over the place, carrying things around the building site, getting experience doing loads of different jobs – if I keep this up, I'll be the strongest in the guild in no time! Then Gramps will have no choice but to make me S-Class!"

"…Somehow, that fails to motivate me."

"Also, it's for Fairy Tail. The sooner we can pay back what we owe and get the new guildhall built, the sooner everything can go back to normal. It'll be happy again, just like before. Fairy Tail will be a good place to be again. I'm gonna make sure of it."

"Natsu…"

"We've just got to endure this for a little bit longer, okay, Lucy? Things are bad right now, but soon everything will be back the way it was. You know what they say: the darkest hour is just before the dawn."

"Who on earth says that?" she demanded.

"I dunno. Didn't I read it in one of your manuscripts?"

"I would never write something as cheesy as that! And- hey! I told you not to look at my manuscripts without permission!"

"You shouldn't leave them out on your desk, then!"

" _You_ shouldn't just stroll into other people's houses!"

They glared at each other for a moment, and then simultaneously burst out laughing. "Fine," Lucy said, smiling. "Let's go on a job."

Just a little longer. How long did it take to build a guildhall anyway, with a guild full of mages combining their knowledge, talents and magic? And with all the requests that the guild had processed over the last two days, they had to be almost at the point of being able to pay off the Magic Council, surely. They could work hard for just a little longer, couldn't they?

* * *

But they had not yet reached the darkest hour. On the morning of the fourth day, Laxus returned to the guild.

He was not in the best of moods when he arrived, returning battered and bruised, if triumphant, from an S-Class Quest he had rushed through in order to get the reward money back to the guild as quickly as possible. When he saw the state of the guild, things only went from bad to worse.

No matter that he had succeed in completing the mission; limping back to the guild with wounds like that was humiliating for his pride. There was no room to affect his cool and confident attitude – there hadn't been since this entire ill-fated affair had begun. These injuries, this humiliation, it was all for the guild, for _his_ guild. And then he had returned to find that other people – the ones who supposedly loved the guild more – weren't working. The revelation that he of all people had been working so hard, only to come back here and find that others weren't pulling their weight; were sitting around and chatting rather than working to raise money for the rebuilding effort, was not a pleasant one.

Natsu, Lucy and Gray had been out on a job when Laxus had arrived, and only heard the story second- or third- or fourth-hand in hushed whispers when they returned.

Five minutes back on Fairy Tail property and Laxus had already become embroiled in a bitter argument with the older members of the guild, who were on a break between shifts. Another couple of minutes later, and the air was thrumming with magic power; the group of them were almost at blows. Someone quick-thinking ran to fetch Mira, who did her best to intervene to keep the peace.

She told Laxus sincerely that they had all been working hard when he had been away, and that everyone needed a rest. The guildhall would be rebuilt, but it would take time. He had not been pacified, but a fight had been avoided – for the time being. Laxus had stormed off to god only knew where, leaving behind a tension that settled like frost over the entire guild.

How much of the story was true they didn't know, but its message was clear: stay away from Laxus. Don't do anything that might trigger one of his moods. If you see him, pretend to be busy. Natsu, being Natsu, and not intimidated by anyone, only laughed, but Lucy thought he was somewhat missing the point. Even if he wasn't afraid, other people were. And for anyone to be afraid of a fellow guild member – let alone their own Guild Master – was a terrible thing. Fear was the tool Dark Guilds used to keep their members in line. It didn't belong in Fairy Tail.

To make things worse, Makarov's condition had begun to deteriorate again. After his long periods of wakefulness towards the end of the war, Mira had been hopeful that his apparent progress would turn into something more stable, but fortune hadn't been on Fairy Tail's side for a while now. The mental struggle to contain his own turbulent magic power was taking its toll on his body. His periods of consciousness were few and far between, and even during those times he isolated himself from the rest of the guild, fully aware that he was as much a danger to them as to himself. Laxus didn't seem to care, even though it was his own grandfather suffering. In his absence, Mira had taken on the role of the doting child Makarov had never had, and was by the former Master's side almost every moment of the day and night.

She didn't tell him about the state of the guild, or the resentment caused by Laxus's return. It wouldn't have helped him right now. Even so, she thought he knew already. He considered himself a father to everyone in the guild; it was no coincidence his physical decline reflected the mood of despair in the guild. The optimism of the first day of recovery had broken beneath the blade of human limitations; harsh reality had crushed their spirit. Their magnitude of their undertaking had simply been too great. In the face of excessive hard work, up against the limit of human endurance with no weapon but their own willpower to turn against it, their enthusiasm had slowly faded. It was no one's fault; to blame anyone would have been to condemn them for simply being born human. They weren't indomitable, after all.

In a way, Makarov's deterioration was the final nail in the coffin. Everyone liked him; everyone trusted him. He was their powerful Master, who had protected every one of them since the moment they had first joined the guild. No matter how bad things seemed, there was always that unconditional faith that he would step in at the last minute to save them. He would interfere with the Council on their behalf and nullify the fine, or he would have a cure for Changeling hidden up his sleeve that he had been withholding in order to teach them some sort of life lesson, and now that they needed it the most he would whip it out and put everything right again…

But it wasn't to be. They were on their own.

* * *

On the fifth day, the situation finally came to a head.

This time, Natsu, Happy and Lucy walked right into the middle of it. They arrived at the guild to find a crowd gathered around Laxus, one that Natsu promptly elbowed his way through until they were standing at the front with Mira.

"These things are important too!" Cana was saying. She, Elfman and many of the guild's older members were stood at the centre of the crowd, where they had been working on the decorations for one of the floats for the Parade as a break between jobs before Laxus had come along. "There's more to this guild than just doing jobs and being strong; there always has been! And nothing says that more than the Fantasia Parade!"

Her pleas only made Laxus's eyes narrow. "It's a waste of time and resources that we can't afford to spare. The guild has more important things to be doing right now."

"If we lose the Parade, we lose a part of what makes Fairy Tail unique!"

"A strong guild has no need of such wasteful frivolity. From now on, the Fantasia Parade is cancelled."

For a moment, no one could hear anything over the deafening roar of outrage from the assembled crowd. "You can't _do_ that!" Elfman protested hotly.

"Oh, look. I just did."

"But Fantasia doesn't just belong to Fairy Tail," argued Wakaba. "It's the biggest event of the year in Magnolia, not to mention the people who come from all over the kingdom to see the parade. What are we going to say to the families who have travelled for miles to join in?"

"That's their problem, not mine. I have no obligation to them or to this city. It is simply where the guildhall happens to be."

There was much unhappy muttering at this. The relationship between guild and community was a vital one – that was what Makarov had always said. But Makarov wasn't in charge any more, was he?

"But what about _us?_ " Cana demanded. "It's the one thing we have to look forward to! After the past few days, we _need_ things like this to keep the guild together."

"Fairy Tail can't afford to put on the Fantasia Parade this year. Ergo, it's not happening." Laxus's cold expression became scornful as he regarded the people ranged against him. "If you were working harder to restore the guild then it wouldn't be a problem, would it?"

"We've worked hard!" Macao exclaimed. He spoke out on behalf of all the friends gathered around him, since they would not dare. "This is our guild, and we're doing our best for it!"

"It's not enough," stated Laxus.

"It's all we can do!" the older mage protested. "Not everyone is like you! We're taking on the jobs we're capable of and helping out where we can – we can't physically _do_ any more than that! What you're asking is unreasonable – no, it's impossible!"

Laxus put his hands in his pockets. "Then leave."

Someone gave a nervous laugh, but anyone who could read the situation knew that he wasn't joking. "Don't be stupid. Fairy Tail is our home."

"Then act like it."

"We _are!_ Can't you see that?" Macao sighed. The presence of the others at his side gave him courage. "Look. We've all been working so hard that we've been getting through jobs far faster than people are bringing them to us. We can't get people to pay us for nothing! We've done all the low-level jobs, and the only ones left are so difficult that for most people to attempt them would be suicide. We're happy to help out around the place and do the work we can, but demanding that we do several hours of physical labour and then immediately go out on a job so far above our level is crazy!"

"Fairy Tail has no need of the weak!"

"You don't understand Fairy Tail's strength."

It took a moment for anyone to realize that the new speaker was the blue cat stood defiantly on the ground between Laxus and Macao: Erza. While Laxus was taken aback, she seized the chance to continue. "The true power of Fairy Tail lies in its teamwork; its bonds. No good will come from threatening that."

"Teamwork? Bonds?" Laxus simply laughed. "Teamwork didn't save Fairy Tail. _I_ did. You can go on about unity all you like, but when it came down to it, it was _my_ power that defeated Phantom Lord." He swept an arm round to indicate the construction site. It was still a total mess; there was nothing that even resembled a solid structure, let alone a guildhall. "And this is the best that your teamwork could produce in five days?"

Erza said, "If it wasn't for Changeling-"

"Relying on such excuses is pathetic! And I had thought better of you, Erza. No, Fairy Tail has no need for those too weak to keep up. Either they must get stronger, or they will leave the guild. Which will it be?"

Erza had lapsed into silence; perhaps in some way no one else could quite fathom, his words had hit home. Macao was forced to respond instead. "Don't be ridiculous. You can't throw anyone out of the guild on those grounds. You have no right!"

A bolt of lightning smashed into the ground just inches away from where the group was standing. "I have every right!" Laxus yelled. "This is _my_ guild, and I'll run it however I choose!"

"You're no Master of ours!" someone shouted, a cry that was echoed by many of the others in the circle.

"You don't understand what it means to be a Guild Master!"

"We won't accept you!"

A dozen bolts of lightning danced through the air, each one passing too close to the crowd for comfort. Not one of them touched the guild members, but it was only a matter of time before Laxus lost control. Nor was he the only one – the ambient feeling of magic in the air increased tenfold as the mages, consciously or otherwise, began to ready themselves for a confrontation.

Laxus hissed, "Then leave!"

"You're the one who should leave! You don't belong here!"

Filled with alarm, Lucy turned to Mira. "This has gone too far. Someone has to stop them!"

"But who?" Mira stared worriedly back at her. "The only person who can stand up to Laxus is Mystogan, and he hasn't been seen for several days… and with the Mast- I mean, with Makarov in the condition he is, he can't do anything to help."

"But we've got to do _something_. Natsu, help me think of- huh?" For when Lucy had turned to ask Natsu for help, she had found he was no longer at her side. "Natsu? Where did he go?"

"Laxus!" A triumphant voice declared.

"…You have got to be kidding me," Lucy sighed.

"Laxus, fight me!" Natsu challenged.

" _That_ was his plan?" Lucy demanded of Mira, and got a resigned smile in return. Natsu was always Natsu, after all.

Laxus stared at him with narrowed eyes. "Are you crazy?"

"I'm serious!"

"As you are now? Don't waste my time." Even Laxus wasn't keen on fighting an opponent who had no magic at all.

"Heh. Never underestimate a Dragon Slayer! I can beat you, and when I do, you have to un-cancel Fantasia and leave everyone in Fairy Tail alone to help in their own way! And if you win, then you can do what you want with the guild!"

Laxus just shrugged. "What part about me being the Guild Master do you not understand? I don't _need_ your permission to do what I want with the guild."

For a moment Natsu was silent, and when he spoke again, there was truly terrifying fire in his eyes. "You just don't get it, do you? What do you think Gramps would say if he could see you now?"

Laxus snapped. He roared, "Don't you _dare_ talk to me about that old man!"

Anything else he might have wanted to say was drowned out by a crash of thunder as he sprung towards Natsu. He saw the attack coming and dived out of the way with battle-honed reflexes. The spectators hastily backed off to a safe distance.

Enraged beyond reason or tactics, Laxus lashed out at Natsu again, who somehow managed to duck under the blow in the nick of time. Without any magic to protect himself with, if a single attack connected, it would be devastating. Not that that had even occurred to Natsu, who acted purely on instinct, and a love of fighting strong opponents. He didn't hesitate for a second, taking the chance to lunge towards Laxus and attempt to tackle him to the ground – only to find that his entire body passed straight through the other as if he was a ghost.

The disappearance of Natsu's physical body only lasted for an instant, but the shock of it was the best weapon he could possibly have used against Laxus. "Alright!" he marvelled, spinning round and kicking Laxus from behind. "So this is Loke's magic, huh? Sure, I can work with this!"

Except he didn't get the chance to try. Laxus hadn't been intending to use his true strength against such a helpless opponent, but all that had ended when he had mistakenly allowed Natsu to land a hit on him. At his command, a single bolt of lightning lanced down from the grey skies above, driving Natsu to his knees and leaving him gasping in pain.

Laxus walked towards him slowly, electricity building up around his body once again. Natsu gave a wordless growl at his approach. It was his way of saying he wasn't going to give up.

"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed.

But it was Mira who moved, placing herself in between the two combatants. "Stop this!" she commanded.

If she had thought about it, she might have realized that the sight of his grandfather's body at that moment in time might have only provoked Laxus further. But she hadn't; she had simply done what she thought was right. Indeed, Laxus almost went ahead with his attack anyway. It was only when Mira didn't back down that he scowled and let the magic die away.

"What are you getting in the way for?" he snapped. "He asked for this."

Resolute, Mira countered, "How is fighting amongst ourselves going to solve any of our problems? We're all after the same thing here. We all want Fairy Tail to recover. Let's just keep doing all we can do to make this guild great again."

"You-"

She wasn't about to give him a chance to argue back. That was a technique she had learnt from watching the Magic Council in action. "Laxus, I know you're only doing what you think is best for the guild." She locked eyes with him; pretended she couldn't hear the mocking murmurings coming from behind her. "And I know that you're working harder than anyone to fix Fairy Tail's problems. But… we're not all like you. We have to use the resources and the people we have to the best of their abilities. These fights, these arguments – they're not helping anyone. So just back off, and let us rebuild the guild at our own pace."

The two of them stared at each other for a long moment. Mira held her ground.

"You too, huh, Mira?" Laxus remarked, bitterly. Then, to everyone's amazement, he turned around and strode off, leaving the rest of the guild in a stunned silence.

He muttered to himself as he walked. "This guild needs saving, alright. Saving from itself." And the breeze whipped around him, blowing back his long coat. That wind carried away all his uncertainty. He placed his hands in his pockets; he had made his decision. "How is fighting amongst ourselves going to solve anything, huh? I'll show you how, Mirajane. Oh, I'll show you all."

* * *

On the sixth and final morning, Natsu, Happy and Gray came by Lucy's house to pick her up. That in itself wasn't unusual; the fact that they didn't break in, but knocked sombrely on her door and then waited for her to get ready, was. While she was grateful that they were finally respecting her privacy, it was a little sad at the same time. She grabbed her celestial keys and went down to meet them.

"Is everything alright, Lucy?" Gray asked.

"Yeah, of course," she lied. And then: "Well, actually… I was just thinking. This is probably the only time since joining Fairy Tail that I've ever woken up in the morning not wanting to go to the guild."

Natsu and Gray exchanged glances. Happy murmured, "Lucy…"

Gray clapped his hands together. "I've got it. Let's go on a mission that'll take us away from the guild for a little while. There were quite a few on the Request Board yesterday – they haven't been popular because of the travelling involved. We could go on one together: you, me, Natsu, Happy, and Erza. It'll be just like old times again. And, with any luck, by the time we complete it and get back to the guild, everything will have calmed down. What do you say?"

"As if I'd want to go on a mission with you-" Natsu declared.

"I wasn't asking you!" Gray snapped back.

"I'd like that," Lucy interrupted, before the two of them could start a fight.

Gray gave a hesitant smile. "Then, let's do it!"

He had been right; there were several missions pinned to the board whose clients were in small towns of varying distances from Magnolia itself. Unsure of whether to choose a job based on the content or based on its suitability as a holiday destination, Lucy picked one down at random. "How about this one? It's at Akane Resort, which is quite a way away, but they'll put us up for free while we're helping out, and they've got an amusement park!"

"Not doing it," said Natsu immediately.

"What? Why not?"

Happy whispered to her, "Amusement parks are Natsu's worst enemy. So many different kinds of transportation, you see."

"Ah." Lucy nodded sagely, the two of them trying not to giggle.

"But how about this one?" Natsu suggested. "It's near Akane Resort, by the sounds of things, and it's from the Magic Council too: investigate the Tower of Heaven. Doesn't sound too tough… and whoa, look at the size of that reward! We've gotta do this one!"

"Umm, Natsu, that's an S-Class Mission."

"So? Erza will be with us! And besides, it's not like Laxus is gonna care about that sort of thing anyway!"

Lucy reasoned, "That's not the point. Only two out of the five of us can even use magic." She glanced at Gray. "And while I'm absolutely certain that the two of us can handle anything, I'd feel bad about dragging the three of you all the way out there just to have you stand around and do nothing. Let's pick something more suited to your level, Natsu."

"Hey-"

"This one's perfect." Gray snatched the flyer down from the board. "It's in Balsam Village, which is a spa town, so it's a great holiday destination. Apparently since Phantom Lord were disbanded, that Dragon Slayer Gajeel has been causing havoc there, and they want some mages to put an end to it." He cracked his knuckles eagerly. "I still owe that bastard one for kidnapping me."

"And I want to have a proper rematch with another Dragon Slayer!"

"I quite like the sound of it being a spa town," Lucy added innocently.

"Then it's settled!" Happy cheered. "Natsu, let's go and tell Erza!"

No sooner had the two of them run off to inform her than someone else stepped out from behind the Request Board, startling Lucy and Gray. "Lucy?" he asked, hesitantly.

"Huh? Loke?" It was unusual enough for him to be around her without running away, let alone to talk to her. That hadn't changed when he had become Natsu, which only added to the mystery. Smiling, Lucy tried to be as friendly as possible. "I haven't seen you around the guild for a while."

"I guess." He glanced away, suddenly shy. Gray was watching him suspiciously. Loke took a deep breath. "Lucy, can I come with you?"

"Of course," she replied, surprised. "The more the merrier. I guess everyone wants to be away from Fairy Tail right now, don't they?"

"Y-Yeah…" Loke still wasn't looking at her.

Frowning, Lucy was about to ask him something else when raised voices caught her attention. Natsu and Happy were returning with Erza, though the latter seemed to be having doubts about the mission they had chosen. "…I'm really not sure about this."

"What is there not to be sure about? We get to fight a Dragon Slayer! It's going to be awesome!"

Lucy sighed. "Natsu, you're useless. Erza: the town we're going to is famous for its hot springs."

Erza's eyes lit up. "Hot springs!"

"So, you're in, right? Great! Oh, and Loke's coming too, so we're a team of six." Lucy surveyed them happily, hands on hips. "If that's all settled, then let's go! To the hot springs!"

Gray looked at her in despair. "You mean, to work."

"Yes, yes. Let's go!"

And so, leaving the troubles of the discontented guild behind them, the six of them embarked upon their hot spring adventure.

* * *

Without them, the sixth day of reconstruction came to an end without incident.

Night had fallen across Magnolia. A blanket of grey mist hid the light of the stars and smothered the sounds upon the earth. Everyone had long since given up for the day and gone home; there was no one around to watch Laxus as he left the guild grounds and made his way through the darkened streets. He moved with great purpose. The resolute clack of his footsteps against the cobbled stones stopped for nothing but his destination: Kardia Cathedral.

The great place of worship, like most public buildings in the city, was empty at this time of night. Not a single candle offered a glimmer of illumination in its windows, nor were the lanterns at its gate alight. When the sun went down the white stone building whole-heartedly embraced the shadows. It was in these shadows that three figures awaited him.

So, they had arrived there before him. That was the Raijinshuu for you. They weren't sloppy or unreliable, like the rest of Fairy Tail. Laxus had trained them himself, after all.

Having said that, the sleek, refined image of Laxus's team evaporated the instant they laid eyes upon him. "Lax-us-!" Evergreen sang, dashing towards him enthusiastically. She might have thrown her arms around him if Freed hadn't got there first – and if Laxus hadn't neatly sidestepped both of them.

"Good grief," he muttered, but he was fighting to suppress a smile. It was probably the first time he had felt genuinely happy since his return to Magnolia, and he wasn't about to let them know that.

"Long time no see, Laxus," Bickslow greeted coolly, from a respectable distance. "Been back long?"

"About a week, as it happens."

"I heard a rumour that Fairy Tail went to war with another guild," Freed mentioned.

"Yeah. It was nothing I couldn't handle."

"That's our Laxus," he grinned.

Laxus just sighed exasperatedly. Rather than giving a suitable retort, though, he placed his hands in his pockets and addressed them with a sudden authority in his tone. "I trust that you've made the necessary preparations."

"Who do you take us for?" Evergreen demanded, placing her hands on her hips. "We're ready when you are."

"Just give the word," Freed added. "We'll show all of Fairy Tail just how powerful the Raijinshuu are!"

"Good," said Laxus shortly. "Though, there are a couple of things I ought to mention before we start."

"Hmm?"

He hesitated. "The guildhall has been completely demolished…"

Freed shrugged. "Then we'll move our base to the cathedral, as originally planned-"

"…and also, I'm now Fairy Tail's Guild Master."

The three of them immediately stopped trying to interrupt, staring at him with increasing astonishment as it became clear that he wasn't joking. Laxus muttered, "Well, you don't have to look so surprised…"

"Laxus, that's wonderful!" Evergreen exclaimed.

Bickslow added, "It's about time! I thought the old man was going to cling on to that position until the day he died!"

And Freed said, "That means there's no reason for us to go ahead with this after all, right?"

All three of them looked anxiously towards Laxus, awaiting his response. He was always their friend, but right now, he was also their leader. He glanced out towards the horizon with dark eyes. "No. We're still doing it."

"Why?" Not a challenge, but a genuine query. After all, the whole point of their plan in the first place had been to secure that position for Laxus.

"Because this guild is even worse than I thought. As it is now, Fairy Tail will never recover. It has become soft. It's desperate. It must change if it ever wants to rise again. I will teach them the meaning of true power, no matter what the cost. I will rid Fairy Tail of all those who drag it down; I will free it from those who are holding it back. I will save my guild… even if that means first destroying it."

Silence followed this proclamation. At the lack of any response, Laxus added, "Unless anyone has any objections…"

"Heh." Bickslow gave a crazy grin. "So, we will get to find out who's the strongest in Fairy Tail after all."

"No way am I going to lose," Evergreen declared.

Satisfied, Laxus glanced at Freed. He thought for a long moment, arms folded, and then he smiled in acquiescence. "I'm with you, Laxus. When do we begin?"

* * *

 _ **A/N:** This chapter was really tough to write. Well, actually, that's a lie. Siegrain was a lot of fun to do. This is the only introduction he gets before the Tower of Heaven so that whole scene was mostly just me having fun writing him being blatantly evil. But that aside, building up the tension between the guild and its new Master was difficult, though I think I pulled it off okay. After all, nothing says tension like a __fanservice epi- I mean, a_ _group holiday to the hot springs. Right? Right?! ~CS_


	9. Promises of Yesterday

_**A/N:** Chapter Nine, the obligatory hot springs chapter. Wait, why are you giving me that look? ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Nine: Promises of Yesterday**

Balsam was a small village without a guild of its own, or even much of a thriving magic trade at all. It was a tourist town through and through; a small, homely retreat ideal for a relaxing weekend getaway. The people were friendly and not at all suspicious of strangers; they welcomed the tourists who kept their industry going with open arms. It was peaceful and laid-back, far from the troubles of a large city like Magnolia. After six days spent upon the hectic construction site that Fairy Tail had become, it felt like heaven.

Night had fallen by the time their train pulled into the station. It had been a long and tiring journey. At first, they had hoped that being in Loke's body would have cured Natsu of his motion sickness. Indeed, judging by how uncharacteristically ill and uncomfortable Loke had appeared throughout the entire journey, he did seem to have acquired Natsu's inability to handle moving vehicles - but the reverse unfortunately wasn't holding true. Perhaps Natsu was just so used to being ill on transportation that his mind induced phantom symptoms anyway.

So the Dragon Slayer was, as usual, a shuddering wreck on the train, reaffirming the others' beliefs that travelling with Natsu was something that should be undertaken only when absolutely necessary. Still, as the rolling fields they passed put more and more miles between them and the guild, it felt as if a great weight had been lifted from their shoulders.

It took Lucy and Gray working together to lift Natsu from the train and set him down on solid ground. The night was glowing with the fiery orange of lanterns, calling to mind the ambience of a festival. Those warm, flickering lamps wove a story of hope for the future, and of the right of every human being to pursue happiness through times of darkness. The others were content to gaze upon the little slice of paradise that was Balsam Village, and wait for their poor companion to recover. When Natsu no longer looked like he was going to throw up, the adventuring party of six headed out to explore the town.

Gray took charge. "Right," he told them all decisively. "Let's go report to the Mayor and find out where Gajeel– _and what do you two think you're doing?_ "

Lucy and Erza were already queueing up outside Balsam Village's famous inn. At his strangled yell, Lucy turned and beckoned them over. "Yeah, yeah, we can do that tomorrow. Since we've come all this way, it would be a waste not to check out these legendary hot springs."

"We do have a job to do, you know," Natsu told them crossly.

Happy remarked, "Unusual to see you so enthusiastic about doing work, Natsu. It's normally Lucy pressuring you to work in order to pay her rent."

"There was no need to bring that up!" Lucy retorted. "Besides, I _am_ working. We're going to have to check everywhere in town for this Gajeel guy, so why not start with the hot springs?"

Erza nodded twice, solemnly. "An excellent idea."

"I can't believe you two," Gray glared. "No way is an Iron Dragon Slayer going to be hanging out in the hot springs."

"You have no proof of that. Come on! If you don't hurry up, we're going to go in without you!"

Natsu and Gray looked at each other, sighed, and hurried after the girls, with Happy following closely behind. Only Loke didn't move. He watched Natsu's receding back, so absorbed in his thoughts that he jumped when Lucy called his name. "Loke! Are you coming, or what?"

He looked away. "I might go and explore the town for a bit."

"You mean you don't want to visit the hot springs? What on earth did you come here for, then?"

"I don't know."

Lucy hadn't been expecting the bitterness in the other's voice. She realized her retort might have come across more aggressively than she had intended, and she tried to smile reassuringly. "Well, suit yourself. We'll be staying here at the inn tonight, so come and find us when you're done."

"Sure," the other said, bleakly, non-committedly; then he stepped away and was swallowed by the darkness.

Lucy stared after him for a long moment, and then shrugged. Nothing could bring her down for long on this well-earned holiday. The five of them headed into the inn, paid for their rooms, and let themselves be directed swiftly towards the changing rooms. They had almost made it to the hot springs at last when, much to Lucy's despair, the attendant called them back.

"Excuse me, miss," he said to Happy – who was, of course, currently Erza. "That's the male changing rooms. The female ones are right over there."

"…Ah," said Happy.

Lucy whispered to Erza, "I can't believe we didn't think of this." They had already grown so used to Changeling that it was easy to get confused.

"Natsu, what do I do?" Happy hissed, while the attendant looked on, utterly bemused by his customers' reactions.

"I guess we've got no choice," Natsu said solemnly, placing his hand on Happy's shoulder. "You'll have to go with the girls, Happy."

"This is your chance to be a man!" Gray added enthusiastically. "Do your best, Happy!"

"Now hold on a minute-" Lucy tried, but her protests were quickly overridden by the grateful attendant, who thanked Happy for his cooperation and returned to greeting the new guests. She forced a sigh. "Fine. But if you peek, I'll kill you."

"Aye, sir," came the glum reply.

* * *

Some time later, when they had finally navigated the problem of undressing, Erza and Lucy were happily relaxing in the warm water. Even though the night wasn't a cold one, little tongues of steam rose up from the water's surface like uncoiling serpents, winding their way up towards the sky. The grey clouds that had hung perpetually around Fairy Tail over the past few days were nowhere to be seen; this far from the lights of a big city, the sky glittered with a myriad of stars. It was so peaceful, and so quiet. Apart from the splashing coming from the men's bath on the other side of the wooden partition – typical Natsu and Gray, physically incapable of being calm – the only other sounds came from the gentle rustling of nature, bedding down for the night.

Lucy found herself smiling. "I'd forgotten how quiet it could be without those two around."

"Indeed." Because of Erza's reduced stature, she couldn't sit in the water like Lucy was doing, and so was instead perched on one of the smooth rocks around the edge of the pool, dipping her feet in. "Though, it's a little disappointing we couldn't all bathe together. It'd be just like when we were children."

Lucy raised her eyebrows. "Rather you than me. I'm perfectly happy with the way things are now."

"Lucy!" came a plaintive wail from inside the bathhouse. "Can I come out now?"

Checking to make sure that all but her head was concealed beneath the steaming water's surface, Lucy called back, "Yes, it's fine."

Happy emerged from inside the changing rooms – wearing nothing at all. Lucy averted her eyes politely. Erza gave a small moan of despair. "Couldn't you at least have used a towel?"

Lucy commented, "It's unlike you to be so modest, Erza."

"It's different when it's not you doing it," she stated, matter-of-factly. "How did you feel when Gray kept stripping in your body?"

"Point taken," Lucy agreed, shuddering at the memory.

They both watched as Happy jumped eagerly into the water, soaking Erza with a miniature tidal wave. She shook the water out of her fur, though not unhappily, and decided to take the plunge with the subject. "Speaking of which, Lucy…"

"Hmm?"

"How _did_ you and Gray undo Changeling?"

"I knew you were going to ask, and Erza, if I knew the answer I would have told you straight away. I don't _know_ how it happened. One moment we were using Ice Make together, and then the next we had just swapped back. I can't describe how it felt, because it just… didn't. One moment I was Gray, and the next I was me again. I didn't even realize until he pointed it out. It just happened."

Erza was silent. Lucy's worry intensified. The last thing she wanted was for Erza to fall back into the depression of the last few days. She adopted what she hoped was a reassuring tone. "Well, look on the bright side – the fact that Gray and I changed back at least proves that Changeling isn't permanent. There'll be a way of getting you two to swap back, and we're going to find it. So, please, Erza, don't worry. The guild war is over; as soon as we've rebuilt the guildhall, everyone will put all their efforts towards undoing the curse. You'll be back to normal in no time."

"What if it's to do with magic?" Erza pondered. Her voice carried more curiosity than depression this time, and it came as a relief to all of them. "You and Gray combined your magic, didn't you, Lucy?"

"Well, yeah. I taught Gray how to summon the Celestial Spirits, and he showed me how to use Ice Make, if that's what you mean."

"Then maybe that's the trick to it."

Happy interjected, "But I'm already a master of Requip Magic."

"I wouldn't go that far…" Lucy commented in exasperation.

"Maybe it has to be both of us." Erza jumped to her feet. "Happy! Teach me how to fly!"

Happy glanced at her curiously. "You mean you _can't_ fly? You can't be me and not fly, Erza!"

"Yes, I know! So tell me how to do it."

He thought for a moment. "Well… it's not really something I can teach you. It's just something that you do."

"But I can't even make your wings appear. How do you do that?"

"You just… _do_." Happy was growing increasingly perplexed by the conversation. "It just happens when I need it to happen."

"You mean, it's like instinct?" Lucy inquired.

"I guess so. It's not difficult, it's… really easy, in fact. I don't get why you can't do it, Erza."

"Not helpful!" Lucy hissed, gesturing frantically for Happy not to pursue that route of innocent criticism.

"I know! I'll show you!" Happy climbed out of the water and stood on the edge. "Lesson number one!" he announced grandly – only to promptly ruin the effect by jumping into the water and landing flat on his front.

Once the surge of waves had died down, Lucy brushed her soaked hair out of her eyes to see Erza standing on the edge. To her surprise, the warrior-turned-cat was treating the situation with utter seriousness. "Like this?" Erza asked, and then without waiting for a reply, she threw herself towards the sky.

For a moment she appeared to hang in the air, and Lucy almost thought it was going to work. But then gravity reasserted its dominance, and she disappeared beneath the water's surface. Ripples streaked across the pool, and faded, and stilled completely, and just as it occurred to Lucy that Erza might be in trouble she broke the surface again, coughing and spluttering. She thrashed her way over to the edge and pulled herself out, collapsing on the warm rocks. Bedraggled, soaked through, and with her bright blue fur plastered down, it was difficult to tell if those were tears running down her face or just streams of water. It could feasibly be either. Erza was the very picture of hopeless despair; whatever light the trip to the hot springs had brought to her heart, this continuing situation was more than enough to plunge it once again into darkness.

"Hmm, hmm. I think you almost had it there," said Happy.

"Yeah, Happy, I don't think now's the best time." Then, to Erza: "Please don't give up, Erza. Once we get back to the guild, Levy will probably be out of the hospital and we'll find a way to change you back. Things will work out. I promise."

The light-hearted mood of earlier had slipped beyond their reach. After all, it didn't matter how far they ran – it wouldn't be far enough to get them away from the situation they were trapped in. They couldn't escape from themselves. They could turn away and try to forget about their problems, but that wouldn't make them go away.

Lucy sighed once again, turning her gaze heavenward, to the little stars so far away. "I wonder if Natsu and Gray are having a better time."

* * *

As it turned out, they weren't. After a thorough check of the fence had revealed that the manager had been infuriatingly diligent in patching up every possible peephole between the male and female baths, they had found themselves with absolutely nothing to do but get on each other's nerves.

"This is _so_ boring," Natsu complained. He lay on his back, floating along the surface of the water. "Why did I get stuck in here with _you?_ "

"I could say the same thing," Gray replied, with folded arms. "Why do you have to be so dull?"

"Why don't you come over here and say that?" the other challenged.

"I have a better idea. Since we're both here, just you and me, why don't we have a fight to decide once and for all which of us is the strongest?"

"That's not fair! I haven't got my magic back yet!"

"Only cowards make excuses."

"Then why don't you not use your magic, and make it a fair fight? Or are you too scared to face me without it?"

"Heh. I could take you with one hand behind my back."

"I'll have you know-"

"Natsu! Gray!" Lucy called to them across the barrier, probably just in time. "We're going back inside now, are you coming?"

"We'll be right there!" Gray called back.

Natsu smirked. "Running away, are we?"

"If you want to stay out here and have Lucy and Erza be mad at you again, then be my guest," Gray responded dryly, causing Natsu to shiver in fear. "Let's go and meet up with the others."

* * *

They reassembled in their room at the inn, all of them dressed in matching pale blue bathrobes supplied to them by the attendants. Unlike the guildhall or the townhouses they were used to, the inn was a very traditional building, complete with thin walls, sliding doors, paper lanterns, wall scrolls and all sorts of mysterious ornaments. At a long, low table the staff had provided them with a banquet of delicious food, which Natsu devoured almost single-handedly and in record time. There was nothing like eating a tasty meal with good friends to restore the feeling of contentment to everyone's hearts.

Eventually, Lucy stood up and stretched. "Well, we should probably turn in for the night. We've got a busy day of sightseeing – I mean, looking for Gajeel – lined up for tomorrow, so we should make sure we're properly rested."

"I agree," said Gray. "Where did you put the-?"

But they would never know what it was he was looking for, as at that moment a thrown pillow smacked him right across the face. At the other side of the room, Natsu was grinning evilly, tossing another pillow from hand to hand. "Oh, you wanna go, do you?" Gray roared, seizing the pillow Natsu had thrown at him.

"Bring it on!" responded the other. He ducked as Gray brandished the pillow towards him, but it was only a feint; while Natsu was distracted, he sprinted over to him and drove the pillow straight into the other's face using his fist. Natsu wheeled backwards, spitting out feathers. Not one to back down from combat, he tripped Gray with a well-aimed kick and pummelled him with a pillow while he was down.

"Pillow fight!" yelled Happy, with the unbridled enthusiasm of a child, grabbing one in each hand and diving on top of the pile.

Lucy raised a hand to her forehead. "You have _got_ to be kidding me. Erza, stop them!"

She looked down at the small blue cat, who stared glumly back. "…Wake me in the morning," Erza instructed, curling up under the table.

"Erza!" she tried, but the other had vanished, and wasn't about to come back into the chaos of the room. "Natsu, Gray, Happy, come on, please!" They, too, ignored her. She wasn't surprised. No force less than an angry Erza was capable of stopping Natsu and Gray once they got going. "Fine, then. I'll just sit in the corner on my own and-"

"Lucy?"

The voice was so quiet, she almost didn't notice it at first. "Huh? Loke?"

The other was stood in the gardens of the inn. He had opened the sliding door just enough to stick his head into the room, as if he was doing his best not to attract attention. He needn't have worried; nothing could drag the combatants' focus away from each other.

Loke glanced away anxiously, and then gathered his courage and spoke to her again. "Lucy, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure." She got up and headed outside, trying not to look as surprised as she felt. She closed the door behind her. The others probably wouldn't even notice she was missing, so she followed Loke out into the night.

Except someone did notice her leave. Out of the corner of his eye, Gray had watched the door close; had seen Loke and Lucy leave the room together - and for reasons he couldn't quite put his finger on, it worried him. He had known it was suspicious that Loke had asked to come on this mission with them out of the blue. All the time he had spent avoiding Lucy – had it all just been an act? Just what was going on here?

"Ha!" While Natsu had not seen the cause, his combat instincts noticed that something had distracted his rival. Whatever it was, he wasn't going to pass up this opportunity. He leapt at Gray, holding a battered pillow above his head in both hands; a glorious finishing blow.

From nowhere, there was suddenly a surge of anger flooding Gray's body. When he turned to intercept Natsu's attack, there was an enormous hammer of ice in his hand. It smashed into Natsu's chest, flinging the other back against the nearest wall.

No: _through_ the nearest wall. Before his astonished eyes, Natsu disappeared with an explosion of wood and paper into the room beyond, leaving behind an enormous hole.

"Oops," said Gray. Regaining control of his magic in an instant, the ice weapon vanished and he ran through the hole after the other. "Natsu!"

The room beyond was almost identical to theirs, but Gray gave it no more than a cursory glance as he ran towards Natsu. A stack of pillows had succeeded in doing what the pitifully-thin walls had not, and the other lay dazed on the floor, surrounded by feathers. "Hey," Natsu growled. "It's not fair if you're going to use magic."

"I didn't mean to," Gray told him, honestly. He felt genuinely guilty, and more than a little embarrassed. He had no right to be angry, let alone to take it out on Natsu. He wasn't even sure why he had felt so mad in the first place. "Sorry."

Gray bent down and offered Natsu a hand to help him up. The other took it gratefully – then tugged him off-balance, at the same time striking upwards with one of the pillows that had cushioned his fall. "Surprise attack!"

"Why you-!" Gray spluttered indignantly.

"Would you mind?" interrupted a grumpy voice. "Some of us are trying to eat here."

The two of them froze. Slowly, dreadfully, they turned to see who had spoken. The room next to theirs hadn't been empty after all.

Sat alone at a low table, wrapped in a poorly-fitting bathrobe, and looking utterly unimpressed with the scene before him, was none other than the Iron Dragon Slayer Gajeel.

* * *

"So," Lucy prompted. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

The two of them sat on a bench within the traditional rock garden behind the inn. It was far enough away for the bustle of the inn to have faded into the background, yet not so far that they were completely swallowed by the night. The fiery glow from the inn's windows danced through the trees behind them like earthbound stars, just in case they needed guiding home. Stars that would never return to the heavens.

Loke was a long time in answering her. Every time he was about to speak, his courage seemed to fail him. The two of them had never really been close, what with Loke's weird aversion to Celestial Spirit mages resulting in him making excuses and dashing off inexplicably whenever Lucy was around. Even so, whenever she had seen Loke before, he had always seemed so… in control. The hesitant, fidgety person sat beside her wasn't acting like the Loke she knew – nor like the Natsu she knew, though she had more or less got over the surprise of remembering that the person who looked like Natsu wasn't him at all.

But even though she was used to that, this silence was unnerving. She rolled the gravel back and forth underneath her feet, anxious in waiting. "Loke?"

"Lucy…" He took a deep breath and let it out again. "In my head, I've had this conversation a thousand times. I came up with all sorts of tricks and speeches to try and make this easier, but now that I'm here… I just can't do it. I'm just going to say it to you straight."

"O-okay." Lucy was beginning to worry that whatever it was Loke had to say, she was most certainly not prepared for it.

He gave her what was probably supposed to be a reassuring smile. She was sure that as Loke it would have been suave and confident, but on Natsu's face, it came across as clumsy. Perhaps that was how he really felt, behind the mask he usually wore. Not being himself made him vulnerable. Maybe, ironically, it was easier to connect with the real Loke when he was no longer himself.

"I need your help, Lucy. I'll tell you everything… so, please, just hear me out."

"I'm listening," she encouraged him.

"Then…" She thought he was going to tail off again, but he pulled himself together and carried on. "Alright. From the beginning. The reason why I'm not so good around Celestial Spirit mages is because… well, I am a Spirit myself."

"You are? Really?" Belatedly she realized that she had interrupted only one sentence into his explanation, and cursed herself silently.

Loke gave a nervous chuckle. "Yeah. I was always worried that you might be able to tell, if I spent too much time around you. My real name is Leo."

Lucy's eyes widened. Leo the Lion, leader of the Twelve Zodiac Gates? He had been so close to her this entire time, and she hadn't even noticed? Talk about being a failure of a Celestial Spirit mage… but that wasn't the pressing issue here. "Then what are you doing in Fairy Tail? Or for that matter, in this world at all?"

"I am in exile," Loke told her simply. The more he opened up - the more he was honest with her and with himself - the easier it became. "I cannot return to the Spirit World, by the law of the King. I've been here for almost three years. I've become used to being in this world; it's nowhere near as hard on my body now as it was at the start. But even so, I cannot stay here indefinitely. I have reached my limit for remaining in this world… and yet I am forbidden from returning to my own."

She could tell that he wanted her to ask, so she did. "Why?"

"Because… I committed the greatest sin that a Spirit can commit," he confessed. "I broke the sacred covenant between Master and Spirit. I… Lucy, I… I killed my Master."

They were sat so close together that she could feel him shivering beside her. She hoped it was a result of the chill breeze that had picked up with the onset of night, rather than whatever memory was running through his mind. What could she say? She had already been silent for too long. It was up to her to say something to help – to put aside her own doubt and confusion and become the person that this vulnerable side of Loke needed her to be.

"What happened?" she asked. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay. But it might help you if you do, and I'm happy to listen."

Quietly, Loke murmured, "Thank you, Lucy." And he said nothing for a long while, but this time, it was easier to be patient. He would tell her in his own time. "It happened three years ago. Her name was Karen Lilica…"

* * *

"Hey, it's you!" Natsu declared, pointing at Gajeel in astonishment.

"So what if it's me?" came the grumpy response. "Get out of my room."

"Heh." Natsu made no move to leave. "I challenge you to a fight!"

"Not interested." Gajeel picked up a dubious-looking slice of vegetable, eyed it severely, and then placed it in his mouth.

On the other side of the room, Natsu's mouth was hanging open. Even Gray was staring in disbelief. Natsu tried, "But… but… you…"

"Oh, I remember you now. You're the Fairy Tail shrimp from earlier who was pretending to be a Dragon Slayer."

"I _am_ a Dragon Slayer!" Natsu protested hotly.

"So you say."

"It's true!"

"With magic like yours? Never."

"Hey! If I had my original body back, I'd beat the crap out of you! And for that matter, you're not much of a Dragon Slayer either. Just look at you! What kind of dragon would back down from a challenge?"

Gajeel folded his arms. "Get lost." Then, as if it explained everything, he added crossly, "I'm on vacation here."

"Wha-?"

"Natsu, aren't you forgetting something?" Gray interjected. "We have a mission to complete. We've got to take this guy down, no doubt about it."

"Don't tell me what to do!"

The Iron Dragon Slayer levelled his menacing gaze upon Gray. "Back off. I've got no fight with you."

"Oh, yeah? Well I've got one with you! I still owe you for kidnapping me and sticking me in that dark warehouse!"

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me!"

Gajeel looked completely baffled. "I'm pretty sure I kidnapped a busty blonde…" He gave Gray a scrutinizing glare, as if he thought that, if he focussed hard enough, he could see right through the robe the other was wearing. "You're neither of those things."

"Oh… yeah. That was back when I was Lucy, wasn't it? This is going to take some explaining…"

To his surprise, Natsu strode forwards and sat himself down opposite Gajeel at the table. Completely blind to the death-glare that the muscled Dragon Slayer was throwing him, he examined the table's offerings and began to pick at the choicest bits of meat.

Gray choked, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Well, you're gonna be a while explaining everything, right? I might as well get comfortable."

"I wasn't going to explain anything. I was just going to beat this guy up and then we can all go home."

"You wanna try, punk?" Gajeel snarled.

"Sit down, Gray," Natsu told him calmly, patting the floor next to him. "Have some shrimp. The seafood here is great, and I missed out on most of it earlier because Lucy greedily ate it all."

"Don't give away my food!"

"This isn't like you, Natsu. Why are you so casually having dinner with our enemy? Just a few minutes ago you were all fired up-"

"Yeah, but then I remembered I couldn't really fight properly with Changeling still in effect. See, I promised this guy a proper rematch, Dragon Slayer vs Dragon Slayer, and I can't exactly do that right now. The only way to connect with people properly is through fighting, and I don't wanna do that when I can't give it my all."

Despite their personal rivalries and guild conflicts, shared magic was a bond that could transcend all of that. Gray thought about all the times he had fought with Lyon and had to concede this one to Natsu. "I'm not sure it's the _only_ way," he muttered, but he sat down anyway, ignoring the look that the exasperated Gajeel threw him.

"So, the thing is," Natsu explained happily, in between bites of pilfered food, "That _someone_ , I don't remember who, read out the ancient words written on a weird request and it turned out to be a creepy magic curse that switched the bodies and magic of a load of the people in Fairy Tail. Gray and Lucy ended up switching, so when you thought you had kidnapped a pretty young lady, you were actually with him all along."

"I thought she was too heavy to be a young woman…"

"Actually, that's just the way Lucy is," Natsu continued brightly. "Anyway, I got swapped with Loke, so he now has my Dragon Slayer magic and is going round pretending to be me. So, technically I _am_ a Dragon Slayer, just not right now. That's why I want to fight you, but not yet. Once I've got my magic back, we can finally see whether fire or iron is stronger, but you're right – fighting now would just be a waste."

"Hmm." It was a bit of a far-fetched story, but it certainly explained all the oddities that had arisen during Gajeel's fights with the various members of Fairy Tail earlier – not to mention the strange magical presence he was feeling from Natsu. "So you really are a Dragon Slayer, huh? Who taught you magic?"

"Igneel, the Fire Dragon," Natsu told him proudly. "He raised me."

"Where is he now?"

"I… don't know. He disappeared, seven years ago."

"Seven years?"

"Yeah, that's what I said. Why?"

"In July?"

"The seventh of July, yeah. How did you know?"

Gajeel looked away, frowning. "That's the exact same day Metalicana vanished."

Silence fell. Gray glanced between the two Dragon Slayers, feeling completely out of place. At least he could keep eating and ignore the conversation, since Gajeel had stopped noticing – or caring – that the two of them were helping themselves to his food. As if this vacation wasn't already surreal enough.

* * *

"But none of that was your fault!" Lucy protested. "You didn't kill her – you didn't even want her to die!"

Every thoughtless word seemed to etch new pain into Loke's haunted eyes. He told her flatly, "It doesn't matter. I disobeyed her direct orders… I refused to go to her side when she was in battle. Because I stayed in the human world against her will, using up her power, the only way for her to defend herself was to try and summon another Spirit. She didn't have the magic power to open two Gates at once, and… so she died."

"But that's… that doesn't matter. You didn't make her go out looking for trouble – in fact, you urged her not to! The fact that she started a fight and overexerted her magic has nothing to do with you! You can't blame yourself!"

Loke sighed. He didn't seem at all reassured. If anything, it was anger which laced his words. "Look, Lucy, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but you're not a Spirit. You wouldn't understand."

"I know I'm not, but I am a Celestial Spirit mage! Karen had no right to treat her Spirits like that! You were just standing up for Aries, and protecting your friends is never the wrong thing to do! And you were trying to show Karen what it really meant to be a Spirit mage. You were trying to _help_ her. If only she had been able to see that, she'd have understood that she couldn't go on treating you and Aries the way she did."

"Lucy…" Loke began, and then he smiled. "Lucy, I am truly glad that I got to meet a Celestial Spirit mage like you before the end."

"Loke, don't talk like that-"

"But when it comes down to it, it was my fault. I was in the human world, in the service of my Master, when she died. For a Spirit, that is unforgiveable. The decision of the Spirit King is final. I can never return to my own realm; my punishment is to remain here until my magic power runs out and I vanish into nothing."

Lucy asked of him, quietly, "If you really don't believe that anything can be done about it, then why did you ask me for help?"

Loke took a deep breath, and let it out again without saying anything. So, whatever it was, this was the reason why he was so worried. This was what had stripped Loke of his cool façade, and forced him to reveal his darkest secret to a person he wanted no involvement with. "Because of Natsu."

"Natsu? What does Natsu have to do with anyth- _oh_." The final word came out as more of a startled squeak. The darkness concealed well the colour draining from her face, but it didn't matter; Loke could hear it in her voice. He gave a grim smile.

"You've noticed, haven't you?" he asked rhetorically. He already knew the answer. "How Natsu's body is unstable. It's disappearing, bit by bit… and it's getting worse. Before Changeling, that was happening to me, because my time in this world is almost up. Afterwards, when I realized that I wasn't vanishing any more, I dared to think that maybe it had gone away somehow… that the Changeling curse had confused the magic in some way. But, of course, that was just a false hope. Stopping it is impossible. It's still happening… only to Natsu, who has been cursed with my pathetic existence. Because of what I did, he's dying, and he doesn't even know it."

Lucy's grip tightened around the armrest of the bench.

Loke continued, "If it were just me, then it would be different. It's the punishment I deserve for the things I have done. But now Natsu is having to pay for my sins… and I can't let that happen. I don't know what to do. Please, Lucy, help me think of something… please."

Lucy's mouth was set in a firm line. "First of all," she began, and when he turned to look at her, she slapped him.

"Lu-Lucy?"

"That was for saying it would be fine if it was happening to you." The sparkle of the stars was reflected in the tears glittering in her eyes, tears she was furiously trying to suppress. "You're a member of Fairy Tail, and a dear friend. Don't you dare tell me you're okay with disappearing. And if you asked anyone else they'd say the same. It doesn't matter if you're a Spirit or not; you're one of us."

"I…"

"And secondly, don't go trying to beg me for help. Or anyone else, for that matter. You don't even need to ask. Of course I'll help you, and if you told everyone else they'd all do whatever they could to help."

"Lucy…" Loke gave in, and smiled. "Thank you."

"Having said that… I'm not entirely sure what to suggest. I guess we should talk to Natsu-"

She jumped as Loke's hand closed around her arm. "Don't tell Natsu," he whispered urgently. "I don't want to worry him any more… please."

"Well, okay, if you think it's best," she relented. "But we need to solve this somehow. Wait! I know! Loke, why don't I try opening your Gate? I'm sure if we explained things to the King he would understand that he was punishing the wrong person-"

"You can't!" he burst out. "My Gate is sealed. It can never be opened again."

"We won't know until we try-"

"You'll die! Lucy, if you try opening that Gate, it'll drain your magic power and then kill you and I – I won't let that happen to you too! I won't!"

She recoiled from his outburst. "Well, okay. If this gets worse, then I'm going to try it, but I guess for the time being we can try and find another way. I think the best thing to do is return to the guild as quickly as possible. If we can figure out a way of undoing Changeling, that would be the first step, but we can't rely on that. I'll try and find out more about what happens to a banished Spirit. We should consult the books in Fairy Tail's archives, or maybe the Master or Levy can help, if they're feeling better. Even if they can't, someone might be able to put us in touch with a more experienced Celestial Spirit mage from another guild who could help you better than I can. I'm sorry I don't have any ideas…"

Loke said, with honest sincerity, "Lucy, just by listening and understanding, you've already been a big help."

"Well, I'm not stopping there. I'm going to protect you and Natsu, don't you worry. You can count on me."

"Then please, keep an eye on Natsu for me. If you can, try to stop him from using magic. It might slow the process down a little… it might buy us some time to work out how to reverse Changeling like you and Gray did."

"We'll work it out," Lucy told him steadily, with a lot more confidence than she felt. She forced a smile. "It's getting pretty cold out here. Shall we go back inside and join the others?"

* * *

"Say, Gajeel," Natsu said suddenly. "Why don't you join Fairy Tail?"

The Dragon Slayer spat out the mouthful of water he had been drinking in shock. " _What?_ Why would I want to join your pathetic guild?"

"I don't think you're in much of a position to be calling us pathetic, since we did sort of wipe the floor with your guild less than a week ago," Gray commented offhandedly.

Gajeel narrowed his eyes. "This coming from the man who, just a few days ago, was trapped in a woman's body?"

Natsu laughed, earning himself a furious glare from his rival. Meekly, he brought the conversation quickly back on track. "Seriously, though. You've got nowhere to go now that Phantom Lord has disbanded, right? Where better than to join the strongest guild in Fiore? Sure, we're having some issues at the moment, but we'll pull through, and besides, we could definitely use more strong people right now. You could help us find out how to undo Changeling, and then I'll finally be able to prove that fire dragons are stronger than iron dragons!"

Surprisingly, Gajeel didn't rise to the bait. "I've got better things to do than help out you bunch of losers."

"Going to stay on vacation your entire life, are you?" Gray asked him sarcastically.

"I was gonna go look for Metalicana," the other retorted.

"You can do that from Fairy Tail. It's what I'm doing. We can search for our dragons together. What do you say?"

"Don't be stupid. I'm Fairy Tail's enemy."

"Not any more. The war's over, isn't it?" Natsu stood up. Almost as if he was unaware that the two of them were watching him closely, he put his hands into the pockets of his bathrobe and stared out into the distance. "I know how you feel. You don't have to believe me, but it's true. You weren't there in the final battle between our guilds, and that hurt you."

"Because you left me buried-!" Gajeel exploded, but Natsu was having none of it. He was being truly serious now – serious like he had been when he had confronted Gray in the warehouse.

"It wasn't your fault, but I get how it made you feel. Your guild was destroyed and you weren't even there. It's the same for me. We won, but only because Laxus stepped in at the last minute and saved everyone. Before that, Fairy Tail was being decimated, and because of Changeling, there was nothing I could do about it. I mean, even ice boy over there could make a big fancy wall-" the closest he could come to admitting in front of Gray that the other had, in fact, saved everyone in a way Natsu hadn't been able to "-and I couldn't do anything. It's frustrating as hell, isn't it?"

"...So what?"

"So, you're depressed because you lost and couldn't stop your guild from being wiped out. I get it. But, you know what? It's also over. The war's finished, and it's behind us. It's time to move on. You can stay here if you want, and try to drown your sorrows in hot springs and free food. Or, you can come with us back to Fairy Tail and show everyone that you're still a force to be reckoned with. Waste your life wandering without a purpose, or be part of a great guild once again. I know which choice a true Dragon Slayer would make. What do you say?"

"You can make all the pretty speeches you like," Gajeel growled. "I ain't gonna join Fairy Tail."

"Ooh, shot down," Gray smirked.

Beyond Natsu's disappointment at being rejected, there came the sound of a sliding door opening and closing in the adjacent room. "Sounds like Lucy's back," Gray commented, and then he and Natsu suddenly exchanged glances, the revelation snapping Natsu out of his comical despair. "She's going to see…"

The three of them listened. There were footsteps. Low voices; Lucy talking to Loke. Then there was a shriek. "What the _hell_ happened to the wall?" Natsu and Gray winced. "Natsu! Gray!" she called furiously. "I'm going to _kill_ them!"

The stomping of footsteps grew louder as the approaching tempest stepped up to and through the hole in the wall. Lucy made a beeline for the two of them, her eyes blazing with murderous intent. "I've told you time and time again about not destroying stuff, and yet the minute I leave you alone, look what you do! How on earth are we going to afford the repair bill for the hotel, on top of the money to pay the guild's fine, and the building work, and not to mention my rent that I'm behind on _again_ because of you two? I can't _believe_ you would do something like this! What do you have to say for yourselves?"

"It was Gray," Natsu said without hesitation, pointing to the other. "He destroyed the wall."

"You were the one who started the fight!" Gray snapped back.

"Scary," Gajeel whistled. "She definitely wasn't the person I kidnapped."

Lucy did a double-take, as if noticing Gajeel was there for the first time. "Whoa, Natsu, Gray, what are you doing having dinner with the person we've come here to defeat?"

"Yeah, about that…" Loke put in. He had followed Lucy through the breach in the wall, and now he hovered behind them apologetically. "The thing is, I went to report to the Mayor earlier while the rest of you were bathing and it turns out this whole job is just one big misunderstanding."

Lucy froze. " _What_ did you just say?"

Loke gave a nervous laugh, not quite sure whether Lucy's rage would be turned on him if he got himself involved. "As it happened, the man who runs this place was worried that Gajeel being here would damage his business, as his face is so intimidating that customers were too scared to bathe in the hot springs while he was there."

"Come over here and say that, why don't you?" Gajeel scowled.

"See?" Loke deflected. "Anyway, he voiced his concerns to the Mayor, who misunderstood and thought that Gajeel was actively causing trouble, so he sent the request to Fairy Tail. Turns out, Gajeel hasn't actually been doing anything illegal, so the job has no lawful grounding. He sent another message retracting it, but by the time that reached the guild, we'd already left to come here. Basically, the mission we came here to do doesn't exist after all. And thus neither does the reward."

"Are you serious?" Lucy demanded. Her voice became deathly quiet. The resemblance to Erza was terrifying. "You mean we've come all the way out here on transportation we couldn't afford, to go on a holiday we couldn't afford, and had Natsu destroy a wall we definitely can't afford the repair cost for, all for the sake of a job that doesn't exist and that we're not going to get paid for? How on earth am I supposed to pay my rent now? And how are we going to help Fairy Tail? This job has just landed me and the guild in even more debt! Look at what you two have done!"

"Actually," Natsu pointed out, "Most of that had nothing to do with us-"

"Shut up!"

"Aye…"

"When we get back to the guild I will personally make sure that the pair of you don't stop doing jobs until you've covered the costs of this holiday! And as for you…"

Gajeel blinked. "Me?"

"This failure of a mission is all your fault! Don't think you're getting away with this! In fact, you're going to come back to the guild and work until you've earned Fairy Tail the money we should have got from this mission!"

"Why would I-?"

"No excuses!"

Natsu sniggered. "Looks like you have no choice but to join us now, Gajeel…"

"Shut up," the other Dragon Slayer scowled.

Gray was also finding the situation rather amusing. "Lucy sure is scary when it's her rent being threatened, huh, Natsu?"

"Could be worse. She could be Erza…"

Natsu tailed off, instincts warning him not to go any further. Both he and Gray looked over their shoulders in perfect synchronization, to confirm what irony had already dictated they would see: Erza, standing at Lucy's side with her little blue arms folded crossly. She looked from the damage to the hotel room to the two boys sat innocently at Gajeel's table; even in that form, her stare carried enough weight to prompt the two of them to cling to each other in terror.

But, contrary to everyone's expectations, Erza merely said, "I'm proud of you, Lucy. You're finally learning how to deal with the two of them." And then she turned around without another word and wandered back to bed, leaving the entire room in something of a state of shock.

* * *

Early the next morning, the Fairy Tail adventuring party – plus Gajeel, who still refused to be labelled as one of them, even though he had stopped objecting to being forced to return with them – said a fond farewell to Balsam Village. For reasons unbeknownst to most in their group, Lucy had insisted that they return to Fairy Tail as quickly as possible, and since there was no longer any justifiable reason for them to stay away, the others were happy to go along with it. Their weekend excursion hadn't quite been the success they had hoped for. Lucy was certain that she needed a vacation _from_ the vacation.

Natsu strongly advocated leaving before dawn – in other words, before the innkeeper noticed the damage to his property – but Lucy was having none of it. She and Loke settled their debts with the manager with profuse apologies, telling him to charge the bill for the repairs to Fairy Tail, all the while making a mental apology to Mira and offering up a silent prayer that Laxus didn't find out.

Thus, after a rocky start, the long and arduous journey back to Magnolia began. Well, the journey itself wasn't that long, but it certainly felt like it was; similarly, the availability of smooth and efficient public transport gave a misleading impression of its lack of arduousness. It didn't matter what facilities were available to ease the process; travelling with Natsu automatically qualified as a long and arduous task. Gajeel seemed to be feeling rather uncomfortable during the journey as well, refusing to sit with the others or talk to them at all, which caused them to throw the occasional suspicious – and worried – glance in his direction.

At around midday their train pulled into the station just outside the city limits. They would normally have gone another stop to the station in the city's centre, but no one wanted to spend any more time on public transport with the suffering Dragon Slayers than was absolutely necessary. The long walk back through town to the guild would at least give them a chance to recover. Besides, the sun had finally emerged over Fairy Tail. It was a good day to be outside. The grey clouds of indecision and despair had been banished. If that welcoming warmth wasn't a sign that things were looking up for the future, then what was?

The short old man running towards them faster than his age should have allowed might have had a thing or two to say about that. As they approached the city boundary, he – well, technically she, as all of them but Gajeel were used to thinking by now – waved wildly. Natsu began to wave back, only to falter as the content of her words finally reached him across the distance.

"Don't come any closer!" Mira was yelling. "Stay back!"

It was Gajeel who reacted first. After all, he believed the person running towards them was Makarov, a man whose reputation for legendary power proceeded him. Gajeel was not the kind of person to take orders from just anyone, but he had a strong sense of self-preservation, and a large if begrudging respect for Fairy Tail's Master. Anything that would cause such a powerful man to act like that, even if he couldn't sense the danger himself, was a threat; he halted immediately at Mira's cry.

The others, however, had no such instincts. Their reactions were of bemusement, rather than fear. Though they called out to her anxiously, they didn't stop moving at her command. Despite her desperate efforts, it was just one step too far.

Purple light flashed up around the six of them – Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Erza, Happy and Loke - trapping them inside a cube of magic. The walls were made entirely of runes; though nothing more than a string of insubstantial, indecipherable letters hanging in the air, their construction was perfect, and the prison was absolute. They had only been back in Magnolia a few minutes, and they had already fallen into the trap of an unknown enemy.

Gajeel muttered to himself, "I knew coming to Fairy Tail was a bad idea."

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Have you any idea how annoying it was to get to the hot springs and then realize that I didn't have any proper gender-swapped pairs with me? Darn. I should have done a hot spring chapter before Gray and Lucy swapped back. Not that there would have been any fanservice anyway - partly because all the female characters I write actually have some respect for each other's personal boundaries and partly __because when your medium is pure text it makes literally no difference whether the characters are having their conversation fully clothed or not..._

 _That aside, the hot springs were actually integral to the plot, see? Loke has finally opened up about the difficult situation that he and Natsu are in, but the main point of the chapter was to get Gajeel to join Fairy Tail. Even though I sort of missed the chance to recruit him last arc, he's an important character and I wanted him to join the cast on a more permanent basis. He may be reluctant, but at least he's here. Not that Laxus is going to be happy to see him. Speaking of whom, if there was any doubt as to which arc I was doing next, that final scene should have cleared things up (and it might also explain why I needed Gajeel sooner rather than later and couldn't just wait for Makarov to go find him). The Battle of Fairy Tail kicks off next chapter - look forward to it! ~CS_


	10. A Part of the Game

_**A/N:** Chapter Ten, and the start of the Battle of Fairy Tail. ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Ten: A Part of the Game**

"Runes," Erza hissed. Utterly unafraid, she reached out with her paw and touched the closest floating violet sigil. It fizzled at the contact, but didn't move an inch. The letters, written in thin air, formed an impenetrable barrier. "This is Freed's handiwork. I'm sure of it."

Lucy glanced at her. "Freed?"

"Oh, right. You haven't met any of the Raijinshuu yet, have you, Lucy?" Nodding to herself, Erza explained, "Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow – they're Laxus's team. They've been away from the guild for a long time on some mysterious mission… I didn't know they were back in Magnolia."

"But they're part of Fairy Tail, right?" Lucy checked. Erza confirmed it with a nod, but her expression was grim. "So why would they set a rune trap targeting us like this…?"

Before anyone could answer, Mira, who had run down the road towards them and now stood on the other side of the barrier, asked urgently, "Are you all alright?"

"Yeah, we're unharmed," Erza reported. She raised her voice automatically, unnecessarily; the wall of runes allowed sound to pass through freely. "As soon as we can find a way out of this trap…"

Gray grinned. "Leave it to me. Ice Make: Lance!"

Eager to show off the magic he had only recently got back, he moved too quickly for Mira's shout of warning to have any effect. Spears of ice shot from his palm, driving into the wall of runes with full force – only to be reflected back towards them at all angles. The six of them panicked and tripped over each other in their attempts to dodge in the confined space, and it was only through sheer clumsy luck that the missiles buried themselves harmlessly into the earth.

"Hey!" yelled Natsu indignantly as he picked himself up from the ground. "Watch where you're aiming those things!"

"How was I supposed to know that was going to happen?" Gray shouted back.

The two of them already looked like they were going to fight, and they had only been trapped in the prison together for a minute. "Get me out of here…" Lucy groaned.

Now that there was a very real danger present, Erza's authoritative side seemed to have returned from whichever dark realm it had been inhabiting over the past few days. She ignored the rowing boys; her attention was focussed completely on the task at hand. "Gajeel, try breaking through from the outside."

"Huh? Why would I do something like that?"

"Are you joining Fairy Tail or not?" Erza demanded.

Despite his apparent annoyance, the Iron Dragon Slayer did as he was asked without further complaint. The others backed away from the closest wall as Gajeel transformed his arm into an iron blade. He swung it towards the barrier with all his might; the runes blazed more brightly on contact, but repelled the physical blow as easily as they had done Gray's magic.

A scowl appeared on the Dragon Slayer's face, but he wasn't stupid enough to try again. "Not happening," he reported to the others. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Mira looking at him curiously. "What're you looking at?"

"Oh, right," Lucy interrupted hastily. "Mira, this is Gajeel Redfox, he's going to help out Fairy Tail until we've paid for this month's rent- I mean, until the guild is back on its feet. Gajeel, this is Mirajane Strauss." After a moment of incredulity, she cottoned on to the source of his confusion, and added, "It's a Changeling thing. Natsu explained, right?"

"Yeah, but he failed to mention it went as high up as your Master."

"Though technically he's not our Master any more; Laxus is," Mira corrected, although her usually-gentle tone was dark.

"You won the guild war without Makarov Dreyar's help?" Gajeel asked in disbelief. "And yet you're stupid enough to curse half your own members with this Changeling thing? Not to mention one of your own mages setting up these rune traps around the city – is this normal for Fairy Tail?"

"The first two, I'll admit, sound a lot like us," replied Erza dryly. "Not so much the third." Her gaze turned towards Mira as all the humour drained from her voice. "You knew about this – you tried to warn us. What's going on, Mira?"

She didn't reply immediately. Everyone's attention was focussed on her now. Even Natsu and Gray had temporarily given up scrapping to hear her explanation. With a heavy heart, she began, "It's Laxus. He and the Raijinshuu have declared war against Fairy Tail."

"What? Why?"

There was no ready answer to either of these questions. Instead, Mira said, "He's announced the start of the Battle of Fairy Tail: a city-wide battle royal to determine who is the strongest in all of Fairy Tail."

To everyone's surprise, Natsu just laughed at the revelation. "About time! Now I'll finally get to prove I'm the strongest! This is great!"

"Perhaps, if it were merely a friendly competition," said Mira. "But that's not Laxus's goal. He's forcing people to fight their allies against their will – to destroy the weak, and separate out the strong. He has sworn to use his right as Guild Master to remove those who are defeated in battle from the guild. What's more, if we cannot find and beat him before the end of the day, he's going to disband Fairy Tail for good."

"Wait, _what?_ " Gray demanded, in disbelief.

Lucy shared his sentiment. "Why would he do such a thing?"

"Because… he has become disillusioned with the guild. We all know the recovery isn't going well. He doesn't understand that everyone is doing their best with what we have. He expects everyone to be able to do as much as he can, and he won't stand for anything less. He wants Fairy Tail to be strong again, like it was before, and he's even willing to destroy it rather than let it carry on as it is…"

Mira placed both palms against the wall of runes and hung her head. They couldn't see her tears, but the tell-tale trembling in her voice betrayed her. "This is all my fault. I'm the one who convinced Makarov to make Laxus the new Guild Master… if it wasn't for me, this never would have happened! And if I hadn't messed up with the Magic Council and got us this huge fine, we'd have been okay, we'd have struggled through like always and come out on top, because we're Fairy Tail… but now the guild is being torn apart from within, and it's all my fault-"

"Heh. What are you so upset for? It's not over yet!" Natsu declared, the proud fire of a dragon shining in his eyes. "This has only just begun. All I've gotta do to save the guild is find Laxus and kick his ass, right? I'll teach him a lesson he won't quickly forget! He might be the Master now, but that doesn't give him the right to do whatever he wants with our guild! I'll show him what he gets for threatening Fairy Tail!"

"But it's not as easy as that!" Mira's voice cracked in desperation. "That's what everyone thought at first: that we were just going to ignore his stupid game and work together to take Laxus down. After the tensions of the past week, everyone was furious, and resolved to make him pay for threatening us. But as soon as we all rushed out to find him, we saw the true extent of his plan. Freed has set up a network of runes all over the city. There are barriers, and traps loaded with dangerous magic, but most are like this: prisons, designed to force the people inside to fight against each other before they can even get close to taking revenge on Laxus."

Loke objected, "But fellow members of Fairy Tail aren't just going to fight each other like that."

"Yes, they are," Mira replied, with great sadness. "Everyone's so angry. They all want to be the one to take out Laxus, and they'll do anything to get the chance to take their hatred out on him with their own two hands. The rune walls are impenetrable – they will only break when the correct condition has been fulfilled. And the condition on Freed's traps is that the mages inside have to battle it out until one can fight no longer. Look."

She pointed to the runes above their heads. Superimposed above the lines of text in the alphabet none of them could read was an extra few words they understood all too well: _Gray vs. Lucy_.

"Ehh?" Lucy cried. "Why me?"

Gray cracked his knuckles. "So, I've just got to beat Lucy, and then we can all get out of here? That's not much of a challenge."

"Now, hang on a minute," Lucy said hastily, backing up against the wall of the prison. "There's no need for something like that! Let's not fight; let's try and think our way out of this. There's six of us in here, plus Mira and Gajeel – surely one of us can come up with something!"

"But this way would be so much faster-"

"Don't you dare," Erza hissed at Gray. "That's just what Laxus wants! I won't forgive him. I won't!"

Gray raised his hands in surrender before Erza could properly get angry with him. "I'm only joking! I wasn't actually going to do it, okay?"

Lucy insisted, "There's got to be another way out of here. If Levy was here, I'm sure she'd be able to find some sort of weakness in the runes…"

"She's still in the hospital, along with Jet and Droy," Mira informed her. Over to the side, Gajeel folded his arms and looked away; Mira thought it prudent to move quickly on. "The old Master is there too. His condition is getting worse, and I didn't think it was a good idea to tell him what his grandson was up to…"

"I agree," Erza said. "Mira, if you ran to fetch Levy-"

"That'll take too long!" Natsu interrupted, with his characteristic impatience. "We'll just have to break our way out!"

"Natsu, _no_ -" Lucy tried, but equally characteristically, he wasn't listening to anything anyone else was saying.

"Wing Slash of the-"

"Natsu is such an idiot…" sighed Happy.

"-Fire Dragon!" he finished triumphantly, throwing himself towards the barrier. Naturally, no Dragon Slayer magic of any kind appeared. More surprisingly, however, the magic-less Natsu sailed up to the rune barrier and passed straight through it. No one was more shocked than he himself, who didn't even have time to stop himself from falling flat on his face on the other side of the wall of runes.

"Oww…" he muttered, struggling to his feet. "Hey, look at that! It worked! I'm free! Ha! Now, to go and crush Laxus before anyone else gets to him- hey!"

His words cut off abruptly in a strangled grasp as Gajeel, acting on the demands of everyone still trapped inside the prison, seized him by his collar. "How did you do that? The barrier is solid! My Dragon Slayer magic couldn't even put a dent in it!"

Natsu just shrugged helplessly. The five mages still inside redoubled their efforts, but whether they used magic or no magic, the barrier remained impermeable to them. Not wanting to be left behind, Gray flung himself bodily at the runes just as Natsu had, and was rewarded with a firm face-first collision with the wall.

Lucy was thinking furiously. "Why could Natsu go through, when none of us can? None of our magic works on the barrier, and if it were to do with not having magic from Changeling, then Happy, Erza and Loke would be able to get through too. So what's different about Nat- wait!"

She looked at Loke and Loke looked at her, both of them having reached the same conclusion. "Lucy-" said Loke in alarm, and there was so much contained in that one word – hope, fear, and above all, a plea for her not to reveal his secret.

She nodded once. Then, to the others, she announced, "Hey, everyone, stop fighting for a moment and let me try something! Gate of the Clock, I open thee! Horologium!"

Celestial light flared with the usual triumphant fanfare; when the smoke cleared, Lucy was sat inside a grandfather clock, waving out at them from behind his glass front. While the others watched, baffled, Horologium began walking towards the rune barrier. Rather than repelling him, at the Clock Spirit's touch the runes simply shimmered faintly, allowing him to stroll straight through. Behind him the barrier returned to its usual state, as solid against their fists as ever.

Safely on the other side, Lucy climbed out of Horologium, thanking him excitedly. "See?" she asked of the others. "The rune barriers are only supposed to stop mages – they have no effect at all on Celestial Spirits!"

"Lucy, that's brilliant!" Gray congratulated. "But how did you work that out-?"

"Even so," Loke interrupted, "That's not exactly much help for the rest of us."

Mira pointed to the runes above their heads once again. "No, look!" They followed her gaze, and for a moment, no one understood what she was on about. Before their eyes, additional letters appeared, as if scrawled by an invisible hand. _Gray vs. Lucy. Winner: Gray_. An instant later the lines of immaculate purple runes faded away, along with any sense of the magic that had bound them to that spot.

Cautiously at first, expecting further traps, the four prisoners felt around for invisible walls – but they had well and truly vanished. The first obstacle had been overcome, and they were free. Impromptu cheers rang out from all around.

"Ha, we're free!" crowed Gray. "And I didn't even have to kick Lucy's ass for it! Take that, Freed!"

"I wonder," began Mira thoughtfully. The boys were too busy dancing around in the open space to listen to her musings, but she saw Erza looking her way, so she continued anyway. "The rune traps probably operate by detecting magical presences. When Lucy left inside Horologium, it could no longer sense her, so it assumed she had expended most of her magic power and been defeated."

"I see," agreed Erza. "If the traps are all over Magnolia, I suppose they'd have to run autonomously. Even if Freed could somehow physically observe the entire city and all the ongoing battles, he probably couldn't actively control so many traps at once. But there were still three of us in there with Gray at the end, so why didn't the trap just make him fight another one of us? And why did it pick Lucy and Gray to be the two combatants in the first place?"

"Maybe-"

But she didn't get a chance to answer, for at that moment, Natsu dropped into the middle of the conversation, striking an eager battle pose. "Who cares? The important thing is that we're out now, so we can go and beat the crap out of Laxus! Are you with me, Happy, Gray, Gajeel?"

"Yeah!"

"Aye, sir!"

"Gehe. Sounds like fun."

"Please, wait." This was Mira: hesitant, and yet impulsive. She hadn't intended to speak, and yet her thoughts had somehow made themselves heard.

There wasn't much that could stop a fired-up Natsu on his way to a fight, but he had great respect for Mira; they all did. "What now?"

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to go and challenge Laxus."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Because obviously you're only going to suffer a humiliating defeat," Lucy pointed out.

"Remember what happened last time you fought Laxus?" Erza added her commanding tone to Lucy's. "He beat you in one hit, Natsu. One hit. And that was when you actually had some magic."

"Things will be different this time!"

Lucy raised her eyebrows. "He's not even denying the one hit thing…"

"Laxus is the strongest in the guild," Mira confirmed. "And he's only grown stronger since he officially became the Guild Master. But that's… that's not why I think you shouldn't go looking for him right now. Will you listen to what I have to say, Natsu, please?"

"…Yeah, course." They gathered round in a group, like a team preparing their strategies. "What's going on, Mira?"

"You haven't seen what it's like out there," she told them, honestly. "You weren't there when Laxus announced the start of the battle. You didn't see the fury or the chaos that descended upon our guild, when all that anger that had been building up against Laxus was suddenly turned upon each other. People are being forced to fight opponents far stronger than themselves – our friends are being hurt by their own colleagues simply because they are standing in the way of revenge against Laxus. There is so much hatred in the guild right now… and so much pain."

"But that's all the most reason for us to go out and beat Laxus!" Natsu objected.

Mira gave a firm shake of her head. "Just think what would happen if you went out there now, Natsu – all of you. In order just to find Laxus, you'd have to search through most of Magnolia for him. You'd be racing against everyone else. You'd fall into rune traps. You'd be forced to fight and defeat not just other members of Fairy Tail, but all the friends around you as well, before you even came close to challenging Laxus. And then what? Even if you win, Natsu, how would you be any better than Laxus? For the sake of that victory, you'd first have to crush your companions; your colleagues; your friends."

"But it'd be for the sake of the guild-"

"What guild, exactly, would you be protecting? What sort of guild justifies trampling all over its weaker members for the sake of victory? What sort of guild allows this chaos to seize control of its own members? By playing by Laxus's rules, you only legitimize them. No matter how good your intentions are, Natsu, you can't save Fairy Tail like that! The cost of doing so means destroying the very thing that you're trying to protect! It won't make a difference whether or not you defeat Laxus in combat; just by fighting him, you'll have achieved exactly what he was trying to do."

"But then…" His voice tailed off. Her beliefs, so contrary to his own instincts yet given conviction by her earnest heart, left him feeling lost. "Then how do we win?"

"Whether we win or lose doesn't matter," she told them sincerely. "It's how we play the game that counts, and I will _not_ play Laxus's game. He wants us to fight each other? _We will not_. This entire setup has been designed to cause confusion and chaos, and in this panic, he seeks to drive wedges between us; to sever our bonds and force us to turn on our friends for the sake of enacting revenge upon him. So that is exactly what we are _not_ going to do. We shall not blindly obey his commands. We shall not fight each other without thinking. We need to communicate. We need to unite. We need to work together as one. We'll tackle the chaos that grips Fairy Tail and get our friends out of that war zone, and only once every single member is safe and sound can we even _think_ about facing Laxus."

"That does sound like the right thing to do," Lucy admitted.

Happy piped up, "I approve of the part where we don't all rush off to certain defeat against Laxus."

Natsu gave a sigh. "Well, you've convinced me. I'll hold off challenging Laxus for the time being – but I _am_ going to prove to him that I'm the strongest, you wait and see!"

"Thank you," Mira said, and she was the only one who was surprised by how much she meant it.

"It's good that we've got a goal," interjected Gray, "But we still need a plan of action."

"We need to establish a base," Erza offered up, matter-of-factly. "A place from where we can take charge of things."

Mira pointed out, "The guildhall's still out of action, or I'd suggest there."

Lucy suggested, "What about the hospital? That's where Levy is, right? We should head there so that we can get her help with understanding Freed's rune traps."

"And it's the last place Laxus and the Raijinshuu would think to look for us," Gray added.

"I'm not sure how comfortable I'd feel, fighting in a hospital." Loke spoke up for all of them.

Erza's gaze flickered towards Mira. "This is an emergency. And if these traps really are across all of Magnolia, then it's not just us who are in danger. Magical battles within the confines of the city threaten all of its inhabitants. Let's make getting to Levy and dismantling these traps our priority. We'll worry about what happens afterwards later."

Of course, that didn't solve the problem of how the eight of them were going to navigate the potentially-lethal traps to reach the hospital, halfway across the other side of the city. If they were forced to fight against each other, they might not be able to get out as easily as they had this time around. Their plan would fall apart, not to mention their spirits.

"Erza and I can head straight there in Horologium," Lucy stated. "We'll be able to pass through any barriers and traps we encounter."

"How come Erza gets the free ride?" Gray demanded.

Lucy pointed at the cat. "Because she's the only one who'll fit in there with me."

"…Fair point. What about the rest of us?"

"We'll split up." Mira's resolute idea.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Loke cautioned.

She clarified, "I've been thinking. Most of Freed's traps are designed to force us to fight against each other, so anyone on their own will be able to go straight through without triggering them. That's how I was able to cross the entire city in search of you. But there's more than that. I was thinking about why the trap triggered in the way it did earlier, and why it collapsed when Lucy left."

Erza smiled. "I see."

"See what?" Natsu inquired, not quite following the girls' thinking.

Patiently, the cat explained, "The traps must work by detecting magical presences. They are clearly set to distinguish between different members of Fairy Tail, as the system Freed has built recognized Lucy and Gray earlier, even though we know from the fact that it vanished at the end that he couldn't possibly have been physically watching the fight. And of course that has to be the case. The traps are all over the city; if they weren't designed to especially pick out members of Fairy Tail, any citizen with magical abilities might get caught up in them. So the traps wait until two mages they recognize as belonging to Fairy Tail come within their area of effect, and then they spring."

"But because of Changeling, our magical presences have got a bit messed up." Mira took up the baton, having reached the same conclusion as Erza independently. "We've acquired the magic of the person we were swapped with, but only an incredibly weak, uncontrolled form of it, mixed in with our own. So weak, in fact, that it can hardly be detected at all – isn't that right, Gajeel?"

Surprised at being called on, the Dragon Slayer nodded gruffly. He had noted their strange magical presences when he had first encountered them – fragmented, hard to sense, and tricky to pin down.

"Freed and the Raijinshuu have been away from Fairy Tail for months. Even if Laxus has told them about Changeling, Freed couldn't possibly have known about it – or the exact effect it would have on us - when he designed these traps. It's just a guess, but I think this is one scenario where Changeling is going to work in our favour. I don't think Freed's traps can detect us at all."

Gray and Lucy exchanged glances. "Then that trap only triggered because it sensed me and Lucy, since we've got our original magic back? That explains why it chose the two of us to fight each other, and why it was dispelled when Lucy slipped through the barrier, even though there were other people still inside."

"It's just a guess," admitted Erza. "But it's all we have to go on for now, until we can get to Levy and learn the details of this magic. Barriers in the streets will still be a problem, but if we split up into groups with no more than one active mage in each, we should be able to avoid being made to fight each other."

"Lucy and Erza with Horologium," Mira assessed. "Natsu, Loke and Happy with Gajeel – Gray, with me?"

No one had any complaints – except perhaps for Gajeel, who wasn't overly thrilled at being dragged into their plan. "This has nothing to do with me. I'm not even a part of Fairy Tail."

"You're right!" exclaimed Natsu, proceeding to miss the point completely and run off with the other's words in an entirely different direction. "Gajeel doesn't have the Fairy Tail mark. Freed's runes might overlook him completely, and then we wouldn't need to split up at all."

"It's a possibility," Mira conceded. "But it's too great a risk. Besides, there's another good reason why we should break up into three groups. Assuming Laxus is waiting for us to come to him, and Freed is hiding somewhere in order to maintain concentration on his runes, Bickslow and Evergreen are still out there – and they're not going to be happy once they learn we're breaking the rules of the game. If we split up into three, at least one group will make it to the hospital and to Levy."

That line had a certain morbid ring to it. Never one to be down for long, Natsu said, "It ain't gonna come to that! I won't fight anyone in Fairy Tail, but when it comes to the Raijinshuu, I won't hold back!"

"That's our Natsu," Erza smiled. Then she clapped her hands – paws – together, enthusiastic now that the fight was beginning for real. This was what she did, after all. "Let's go!"

* * *

So they split up. Erza and Lucy took the shortest route directly to the hospital. Even though their path took them right through the busiest parts of Magnolia, where the fighting was in full swing, they were relying on Horologium's protective influence to see them safely through Freed's traps, and prevent their enemies from discovering their plan.

Gray and Mira retraced the latter's steps round the outskirts of the city, the idea being that she had made it unscathed the first time round, so the route was probably a safe one. As long as they weren't discovered, they ought to be able to rendezvous with the others at the hospital without much of a problem.

That just left the somewhat unusual team of Natsu, Happy, Loke and Gajeel. Their instructions were to head straight through the centre of the city, putting as much distance as possible between them and the other two teams – just in case they were found. Natsu took the lead with his usual irrepressible enthusiasm. Happy ran at his side, ready for battle in Erza's Heaven's Wheel Armour. Loke was noticeably less happy with the arrangement, and Gajeel traipsed along behind all of them, not entirely sure how he had been dragged into this mess. Not that he was ever one to back down from a fight, of course. If nothing else, at least hanging around Fairy Tail would be interesting.

In an alley, only a few hundred metres from their goal, their haphazard charge came to a sudden stop. The first they knew about it was a slight shimmer in the air around Natsu, like a mirage in the heat. Gajeel spotted it and screeched to a halt; alarmed, Loke followed his lead. Too late to react, Happy slammed face-first into the wall of runes as they materialized and slid comically down to collapse in a heap at its foot.

"Runes!" Loke observed. "Did we trigger them?"

Natsu, noticing that the others were no longer with him, reversed his course and jogged back to them, hovering on the other side of the barrier. "There's no combat announcement," he remarked. "It's probably just a barrier." Agitated, he hopped impatiently from foot to foot. "Come on, break it down already! We can't wait here all day when there are fights going on!"

"Easy for you to say," Happy grumbled, picking himself up.

Loke dragged his attention away from Natsu, trying to focus on the task at hand. "Right, I've got this. Fire Dragon's Howl!"

As was becoming standard for the Fairy Tail mages, the magic failed to materialize. Natsu clapped a hand to his forehead. " _Roar_ , Loke, Fire Dragon's _Roar_ , it's really not that difficult-"

The other wasn't listening. He launched a flying kick at the rune barrier: "Fire Dragon's Fiery Feet!"

"Now you're just making things up!"

"My turn!" Happy joined in. "This is a technique I adapted from Lucy! _Erza Kick!_ " Happily oblivious to the strong magic powers of the armour he was wearing, he added his own ordinary kick to Loke's.

Gajeel watched bleakly as the two physical attacks made no dent whatsoever in the magical wall. "How did we _ever_ lose to you people? You have no chance of beating that Laxus guy like this…"

"Heh. Never underestimate Fairy Tail," Natsu told him.

"Natsu, you go on ahead," Loke instructed. "We'll find another way round."

"You sure?"

Loke hesitated. If they left Natsu alone, would he head straight to Erza, or would he run off to find Laxus? If he tried to fight the way he was now… Loke shivered. Natsu's situation weighed heavily on his mind. If he told the other the truth now, then he might understand how important it was that he didn't go looking for fights – but when had he stopped believing in his colleagues? When had any of them? He had to trust Natsu to do as Mira had requested.

"Yeah. Go to Erza. We'll join you as soon as we can."

* * *

On the edge of the town, far from the chaos that was ensuing in the centre, it was difficult to fully appreciate the craziness of the all-out battle. It was quiet here. Almost too quiet. Gray was completely on edge. He was aware of every sound slightly out of sync with his and Mira's footsteps; he tracked the movements of every townsperson he saw with suspicion.

A lot was resting on him. Mira, Erza, even Makarov – without their magic, none of them were about to step in and save them all at the last minute. This was a battle they were going to have to win themselves, and that meant that he, as one of the only two active members of Fairy Tail's strongest team, had a duty to protect everyone.

And then he felt it. They were being watched. He could feel the hostile intent rippling through the air around him.

So, their enemies had found them after all. A small smile tugged at Gray's lips. He was going to get a chance to prove himself after all. It was also something of a relief. If one of the Raijinshuu were here, then it reduced the chance of Natsu and the others encountering them. And the others needed all the luck they could get, since they couldn't do _this_.

In one smooth move he wheeled round, blue magic seals blazing into existence at his palms as he activated Ice Make. From the ground rose up a crystalline shield – and not a moment too soon, as bullets of light crashed into its far side. The ground shook under the rapid-fire assault, but Gray's outstretched arm was steady, and his ice shield held firm.

"Ah, so you did notice me. That's one of the curses of being so popular, I suppose. The attention of all men is just naturally drawn towards me."

With the immediate threat over, Gray let his shield break apart into fragments of magic. "Evergreen."

The young woman was stood several metres away from them, her arms folded. She gave a sigh of disappointment. "And there I was hoping I was going to get to fight Erza. Tell me: where is she?"

"As if I'd tell you that!" Gray retorted.

"Then I guess I'll have to beat that information out of you," she mused. She didn't seem all that dismayed by the prospect.

Neither was Gray. If he could score Fairy Tail an early victory here, it would greatly help their odds against the Raijinshuu. "Bring it." To Mira, he added, "I'll take care of things here. You hurry to the rendezvous point."

"But-"

"Go! It'll be easier for me to go all out if I don't have to worry about you."

He was so fixated on his opponent that he didn't notice the expression of sadness that crossed Mira's face ever so briefly, and when she spoke, her voice was perfectly neutral. "I understand. Don't underestimate her, Gray. And watch out for her Stone Eyes."

"Yeah, I know." Just because Evergreen had been absent from the guild for a while didn't mean he had forgotten how dangerous her magic could be. With so much resting on him, Gray wasn't about to let a stupid mistake put him out of the game. "Now go!"

She did so. Evergreen's eyes flashed across to Mira's retreating form, contemplating whether or not to fly after her. But frigid air was already swirling around Gray's body; he wasn't going to let her do as she pleased. The moment she turned her back to him, she would lose her advantage. And besides, she was one of Laxus's personal guard. She could deal with this ice mage quickly and still catch up with Mira.

"Fine, I suppose I could play with you for a little while." Evergreen spread her wings, golden fairy dust glittering ominously in the air around her.

With narrowed eyes, Gray settled into an Ice Make stance. "Come on, then! I won't lose!"

* * *

Horologium vanished within metres of the hospital's entrance. Barely had their feet touched the ground than Lucy and Erza were sprinting flat-out towards their goal. The girl and the cat raced down the corridors, not stopping for anything – not the bemused stares of the patients nor the alarmed shouts of the nurses – until they had found the ward where Levy and her team were recovering.

The two warriors burst through the door and into a scene of utter serenity. Sunlight streamed in gently through the windows, bathing the pale, inoffensive walls with a welcoming light; through the many wide windows, the sapphire sky and emerald green leaves painted a picture of peaceful Magnolia at its best, far from the war zone they had envisaged after hearing Mira's account. In the sudden quiet, Lucy and Erza were acutely aware of their own heavy breathing.

Levy and Jet were sat on one of the beds, playing a friendly game of chess. Droy was half-watching them from behind his newspaper. The other beds were empty, save for one against the opposite wall, in which slept their former Master, looking a great deal more relaxed than he had been back at the guild. Outside, birds chirruped contentedly. What were they doing, bringing war to such a peaceful place?

But they weren't the ones to blame, were they? What was Laxus _thinking?_

At the sudden interruption, Levy glanced around. "Lucy? Happy? What's going on? Wait… you're Gray and Erza, right?"

"Lucy, Erza," Lucy corrected her, pointing. "Gray and I switched back, but now's not the time. Levy, we need your help."

Despite her confusion, the girl managed a bright smile. "Sure, what can I do for you?"

Erza frowned. "Don't you know what's going on in the guild?"

"What… do you mean?"

"We haven't seen anyone from the guild since Mira brought the old Master here a couple of days ago," Jet clarified. "They're letting us out tomorrow, so we thought we'd surprise everyone."

Lucy and Erza looked at each other. The former's shoulders sagged; the latter carried on, matter-of-factly. "Then you don't know about the Battle of Fairy Tail?" When they shook their heads, Erza recounted to them everything that Mira had said. Lucy was watching Makarov with concern, but fortunately the old man seemed to be deeply asleep.

Levy's reaction, however, went from alarm to denial to worry in a matter of moments. "Laxus… why would he do this? Is this our fault? Because we were beaten, and caused trouble for everyone?"

"Of course not!" Lucy declared whole-heartedly. "He's just… being a bit of an idiot. Which is why it's up to us to teach him a lesson!"

Erza overrode her with more practical matters. "The most important thing is protecting the scattered members of Fairy Tail in the town. That's what we need you for, Levy. At the moment, Freed's rune traps are causing chaos. We can't break through them with our magic, but you understand letter magic better than anyone. Is there anything you can do?"

Levy's eyes widened slightly. Her expression was not one of eagerness, but of dismay. "I… Freed's Jutsu Shiki magic is completely different to my Solid Script. I don't know if I'll be able to do anything about it…"

"Oh." As much as they tried to hide it, there was no mistaking their disappointment. All their plans would come to nothing if they truly did have no way to counter Freed's rune traps.

Slightly more sensitive to Levy's plight than Erza was, Lucy offered, "Don't worry about it, Levy! It was far too much to ask when you're still in hospital-"

"I've been useless to Fairy Tail, haven't I?" Levy murmured. "It was my fault that Changeling became permanent – my fault that Fairy Tail went to war – and all this time everyone else has been fighting for my sake when I've been lying here, unable to do anything to help."

"Levy, it's not-"

"I'm going to try. I might not be able to understand Freed's magic, but I'll do my best to work it out. Everyone else is fighting for Fairy Tail, so I'll fight too, in any way that I can."

"That's our Levy!" Droy cheered, but even the usual adoration of her teammates was drowned out by Lucy's delighted squeal as she sprung over and hugged her friend.

"Hey, hey," Levy protested weakly. "I can't promise anything, you know. Though, now you mention it, I think I can sense something, ever so faintly…" Her gaze had shifted into the distance; she didn't notice that the others had stopped messing around and were hanging on to her every word. "A whole network of letters – of _information_ – stretched across the entire city. That's _incredible_. It's not even possible… is it? Did Freed do this? I wouldn't even know where to start… his magic is so far out of my league…"

"Don't give up, Levy! He won't beat you!"

"When it comes to letter magic, you're second to none!"

And when it came to unconditionally supporting their leader, Team Shadow Gear was also second to none. Levy smiled. "I'll see what I can do. First of all… I need an access point of some kind. We're too far from the network here for me to get a good grasp of what's going on."

"What do you need?" Erza asked immediately.

Levy thought for a moment. She rummaged around in her bag and drew out two pens – one ordinary, and one with a glowing nib – and a scrap of paper. Gripping the lid of the ordinary pen between her teeth and yanking it off, she scribbled down some letters on the folded paper. Then she stared at them without speaking for a minute… and for another minute. A frown creased her face. With a sigh, she scribbled them out, flipped the paper over, and started again: five letters in an alphabet none of them were familiar with, but all of which looked similar in style to the violet ones that the earlier trap had comprised of. Switching to the light pen, Levy copied the runes onto the air in front of her, where they hovered patiently.

"I think this is the language Freed will be using," she told them. "Fortunately, it's one I've spent some time studying… though I've never tried any magic like this before." Refusing to let her self-doubt creep back in, she thrust the paper out towards them. "I need someone to run to the nearest rune trap or wall, and copy these letters on top of Freed's. If he's managed to connect all the magic in the city together, and I think he _is_ that good, then this should be enough to generate a copy of all the information he is getting and send it here to me. Finding out what's going on from in here seems like a good place to start."

"Levy, you're amazing!" Lucy remarked.

"I have no idea if it'll work," Levy warned, but there was a touch of pride in her voice.

Jet sprung to his feet. "I'll go and inscribe the runes. I'm the fastest."

"No, I'll go."

Startled, they glanced towards the door, where Natsu was standing defiantly, his arms folded. "I know where some nearby rune traps are, and I can't get caught in them. Freed might grow suspicious if a member of Team Shadow Gear – the only other team in Fairy Tail which can use letter magic – enters the battlefield and starts interacting with his traps, but they can't detect me at all." His serious expression became the broad grin they all knew and loved. "Loke's magic sure does come in handy sometimes."

"Y-Yeah…" stammered Lucy, the only member of the group not smiling.

"Thanks, Natsu." Levy handed him a spare light pen, and the piece of paper. "You know what to do, right?"

"Hang on," interrupted Jet. "Won't Freed know something's up anyway as soon as you connect those runes to his?"

Levy bit her lip. "I don't know. It depends if he's observing his network of runes from a safe point, or if he's left them to run completely by themselves while he joins in with the fighting. If it's the latter, I doubt he'll notice if I'm just taking a copy, but if he's monitoring the system of magic himself then it's another matter entirely. Having created such a vast and powerful magic, I'm not sure he'd want to just leave it alone. If he can't step in to change things in order to manipulate people who are doing things he hadn't predicted, it defeats the purpose of choosing this magic in the first place, right? But having said that, we need any advantage we can get, even if it's just an extra few minutes undetected. Natsu, go."

"On it!"

He ran from the room. The others found seats and waited for his return. The chess game had been abandoned; all of Levy's attention was focussed on the runes floating in front of her. She wished she had a dictionary for reference, or a language expert to consult – and then she shook her head firmly. Lucy and Erza were ready to fight at a moment's notice, so she had to be too. She may have been useless up to now, but she was resolved that that would change. This might not make much of a difference, but it was what she could do. This was her fight. It was Levy's turn to shine.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** So, needless to say, the Battle of Fairy Tail here is going to follow a pretty different route to canon. Technicalities first: Laxus has no hostages and no Thunder Palace. He doesn't need them. There is so much hatred towards Laxus in the guild as it is that no one needs any encouragement to fight him. And, of course, the entire guild is his hostage - if they still refuse to fight at the end of everything, he'll just disband the guild there and then, as is his right as Master. The secondary effect of the hostages in canon - to cut down Fairy Tail's fighting power at the start of the battle by removing Erza, Mira etc - is compensated for here by Changeling, so that's not really a problem. _

_Of course, removing the petrified girls from the equation throws up some interesting scenarios in its own right. For one, Fairy Tail's side has Levy from the start, meaning that she's going to have an awful lot more impact in changing the nature of the game from a free-for-all into a battle of strategy. Equally, they also have Mira. Now admittedly she's a lot more of a pacifist here than she is in canon - mostly owing to her still blaming herself for everything that Laxus does - but the fact that she is able to present these views to the returning group before they get involved in the fighting is vital. While her impromptu speech in this chapter caused me no end of problems later on, at least it gives some indication of how this arc is going to be approached._

 _Anyway, there was a lot of set-up and explaining this chapter (sorry!) but things should pick up shortly. Thanks for reading! ~CS_


	11. The Laws of Geometric Optics

_**A/N:** Chapter Eleven, in which I come up with an ingenious method to write fanfiction and revise for my Optics and Electromagnetism exam at the same time... ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven: The Laws of Geometric Optics**

At first, fighting a fellow member of Fairy Tail was difficult.

It wasn't as if Gray and Evergreen were particularly close. In fact, they hardly interacted at all in the guild. The Raijinshuu tended to keep themselves to themselves, and they were far more frequently to be found out doing quests all across the continent than relaxing with everyone else in the guildhall.

But whether or not they were friends on a personal level was quite beside the point. Even as they regarded each other across the wide empty road that was to become their battlefield, Gray felt his eyes being drawn to Evergreen's Fairy Tail mark, proudly displayed for all the world to see. That mark wasn't just a sign of allegiance - it was a symbol of belonging. It superseded ties of blood or desire, and brought all its bearers together as a family. Fighting someone else with that mark was like breaking a promise.

How could he put his whole heart into this fight? This whole scenario was just messed up. Returning from a somewhat bizarre vacation, only to be told by Mira out of the blue that they were at war with their own Guild Master – it wasn't as if he didn't believe what Mira was saying, but it was just too surreal for him to accept. Half-convinced that he was going to wake up at any moment from this incomprehensible dream, the ice shards he sent towards his opponent were half-hearted, and then he almost died.

Evergreen was not holding back. Frustrated at having to fight this ice mage, rather than the one who held the title of Fairy Queen Titania that she so desperately sought for herself, her only goal was to defeat him as quickly as possible and fly off in pursuit of Mira. Hovering in the sky, she dodged his slow attacks easily, while casting her fairy dust into the air with every beat of her wings.

At the very last moment, Gray saw the gold glitter of sunlight reflecting from the air around him, and remembered, belatedly, the nature of Evergreen's magic. There was no time to get away – while his self-doubt had snared him to the spot, she had woven her trap around him. There wasn't even time to bring his hands together for Ice Make. As she gave a triumphant cry, he felt a surge of panic, and an azure magic seal formed around his right hand only.

Ice rose up around him protectively as the air itself seemed to detonate. One-handed Make Magic lacked balance – he had learnt that from Ur. But, as he had learned from fighting Lyon, it was also fast. His shield held out for about half a second before the blazing white world on the other side shattered through it, sending pain and heat flooding through his body. The blast threw him backwards; dazed, and partially blinded by the light, he struggled to his feet. Despite the searing pain across his bare chest, he counted himself lucky. He felt certain that if he hadn't managed to produce any kind of shield, he wouldn't be getting up at all.

So, this was really happening. It hurt too much for this world to be anything less than reality. Breathing heavily, he turned his angry gaze upon his opponent. "Alright, then. I'll play your game. Ice Make: Hammer!"

Both hands this time. The giant weapon materialized in a flash, with all the strength and steady balance he was used to, and he grabbed it firmly. Suppressing the irritation of his wounds with ease born from practice, he kicked off from the ground and leapt towards Evergreen.

With a smug smile, she raised a hand towards him, unleashing her own magic. The innocuous dust around her formed itself into bolts, each rippling with unfamiliar white power, before they lanced towards Gray. He knocked them away from his body with one solid swing of his weapon, and kept charging forwards. Evergreen's eyes widened. Nothing Gray made with both hands would break so easily.

An instant later he was right in front of her, driving the hammer towards her. She danced easily out of the way. She was every bit as agile as her slim form suggested. With a wordless growl, Gray let the hammer break apart into shards of ice and reformed them into a blade. Faster and lighter; this was the versatility of Make Magic. He was angry now. Fully on the offensive, he forced Evergreen backwards, denying her the range she needed to fully utilize her fairy dust's distance attacks.

"Why are you doing this?" he demanded.

"Why?" Evergreen laughed. "For Fairy Tail, of course."

For a moment, Gray was too angry to speak. The same fury which stole his voice also lent him strength; two more slashes, two more steps forward – just a little more, and he would have Evergreen backed up against that stone wall, with nowhere left to run.

"How can you say that?" he hissed. "You're trying to destroy the guild!"

"Someone like you wouldn't understand what Laxus is thinking."

Gray lunged one final time; Evergreen's hasty retreat was abruptly brought to a halt when the heel of her shoe collided with the wall. He felt a surge of triumph – which rapidly became fear. Far from being surprised, Evergreen simply smiled. She clapped her hands together and a ripple of light ran through the air.

Too late, Gray realized his mistake. Once again, he had let her lead him back, and all the while she had been emitting that infuriating dust. He had blundered right into it. When had he started letting his guard down in fights? When had he started allowing anger to guide his actions? As the world around him seethed and riled with hundreds of tiny explosions, he threw himself to the side.

Rolling smoothly, he bounded back to his feet, but his advantage had already been lost. Evergreen had taken to the air, far beyond his reach. From what he could gather, flying consumed a lot of her magic power, hence her reluctance to overuse it. But now, there was no sense in conserving her energy. Her magic was suited for distance fights, not physical combat. Conversely, Gray, who brawled with Natsu on a daily basis, and was one of the toughest melee fighters in the guild even without his magic, lost that advantage completely when he couldn't reach her.

Not that he was giving up yet. "Ice Make: Lance!" Razor-sharp blades of ice curved through the air towards her; she retaliated by shifting her dust into needles of energy, far outnumbering Gray's missiles. The two attacks met in mid-air, Evergreen's tearing Gray's to shreds, and still heading down towards him. He cursed. There was no way he would win in a prolonged ranged battle. Evergreen's Fairy Machine Gun rained bullets of destruction down upon him, and there was nothing he could counter with.

Even so, there were people relying on him. Mira. Erza. Even Natsu. How could he complain that his magic was ill-suited to this battle, when most of his friends were stuck with no magic at all? If he gave up here, and one of them had to face Evergreen, they wouldn't stand a chance. This was his turn to make a difference.

And when had he decided his magic was a poor match here, anyway? Ur would be disappointed in him. The potential of Ice Make was limited only by its user. He had been so incensed that a former ally was actively trying to hurt him that he had focussed only on physical attacks, determined to land a hit on her with his own two hands, because that was how he and Natsu conveyed their anger and their rivalry to each other. If he wanted to win, all he had to do was approach this battle from a different angle. Unlike Natsu, Evergreen was his enemy; there would be no communicating with her, let alone any mutual understanding between them. The important thing wasn't fighting fairly, but winning.

In an instant, he had a plan. "Ice Make: Shield!" A flowering shield of crystal bloomed upwards from the ground, intercepting the hail of energy missiles. Frustrated, Evergreen increased the intensity of her attack. The ice continued to absorb the heat of impact, warming up. A crack appeared in the shield, and then another. From the fractures emerged white steam, as the core of the ice shield superheated and vaporized the water within. The more Evergreen poured her magic power into the attack, the faster the steam was generated, burning through the shield at an incredible rate and increasing the density of the gas.

Not that a smokescreen would help him, when she knew exactly where he was. One final ray of energy blasted through the remains of the shield, and into the body crouched behind it. "I've got you now!" Evergreen crowed.

And then, very much to her surprise, Gray's head fell off.

Evergreen stared through the cloud of dissipating steam, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. More familiarity with Gray's techniques would have helped convert her astonishment into alarm, but this was one he had only mastered recently. "Wait a minute…"

She sensed magic being released behind her and turned, too late. Several metres above the ground, she had thought herself invulnerable - but there he was, sprinting up a set of ice stairs he had conjured from thin air.

What Gray lacked in sheer offensive capability he more than made up for in mastery. He didn't have the mental control or even the magic power to sustain multiple ice creations at once, but what he did have was the speed and control needed to chain together the shield, clone and stairs necessary to get close to her. And he wasn't finished yet. As Evergreen brought her hands together to fire a concentrated ray of dust at him, he leapt high into the air, raising both hands above his head. "Ice Make: Prison!"

Gray brought the construct down upon Evergreen from above, trapping her like a bird in a cage as it and they crashed to the ground. The impact force was strong but his magic was stronger; the bars of ice withstood the collision and embedded themselves into the ground, sealing Evergreen within. He jumped down from the top, straightening himself up and dusting off his hands in satisfaction.

"And that's why you shouldn't mess with Fairy Tail," he declared.

Evergreen placed her hands against the bars of the prison. "Not bad, Gray. I'm sure Laxus would approve of your fighting spirit."

Her tone was one of patronizing arrogance. It was not right for someone who had just been defeated. Gray didn't like the smile on her face one bit. She continued, "But he'd also be mad if I lost here, so I guess I am going to have to go all-out against you, after all."

All-out? What did she mean? He dropped cautiously into an Ice Make stance as she removed one delicate hand from the bars of her prison and lowered her glasses – and then he remembered Mira's final warning before she had left. Stone Eyes. Evergreen's primary magic. If he made eye contact with her while that was active, it was all over.

Throwing caution to the wind, Gray dived aside, closing his eyes firmly. It took incredible determination to override his battle instincts and turn his back on his enemy, and for good reason – as soon as she was out of his line of sight, she raised her hand and drew upon her magic. The torrent of glowing needles she summoned tore into his unprotected back.

Gray gave a cry. With his concentration broken, the ice prison collapsed. He could hear the crunch of her heels in the gravel as she walked freely towards him, yet he didn't dare to turn around. If he accidentally looked into her eyes, he would be turned to stone just like that. A pit of foreboding opened in his stomach, mingling with the pain from all the hits he had taken. How the hell was he supposed to defeat an opponent he couldn't even look at?

He had been foolish to think he could win against one of the Raijinshuu so easily. The fight was only just beginning.

* * *

In the ground-floor specialist mage unit of Magnolia Hospital, the situation couldn't have been more different. There was no battle. In fact, there was no indication that anything out of the ordinary was going on at all. No one spoke. No one dared to do anything to disturb the silence. They could only wait… and wait… and wait.

It was, by complete fluke, a good place for Erza to have named as their base of operations. The entire ward was only for mages who were suffering from injuries related to their magic; as most of the city's resident mages were in Fairy Tail – certainly the ones who tended to get into fights, anyway – it wasn't surprising that only the beds being used by Levy, Jet, Droy and Makarov were currently occupied, and the rest of the large room was empty. At the very least, it meant that no one else would be dragged into their fight. The large windows gave them a good view of the road leading up to the hospital, so they would know if any of their enemies were approaching. They would also provide numerous escape routes if the need arose. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, but at that moment, none of them had the faintest idea how things were going to play out.

So they sat in silence, not daring to look at each other, and they waited.

The only person who seemed immune to the tension in the room was Levy herself. While she stared at the runes floating dormant in the air in front of her with just as much anxiety as everyone else, her thought process was punctuated by the frantic scribbling of ancient words on paper, followed by the ponderous tapping of her pen against the metal bedframe, and the occasional heavy sigh. Every once in a while, she would screw up the sheet of paper she was writing on and throw it on the floor.

Lucy understood that feeling better than anyone. How often had she done the exact same thing while working on her novel? And that was just a hobby; failure wasn't a big deal. Yet all their hopes were riding on Levy's success. She couldn't begin to imagine what the other girl was feeling. Even so, as much as she wanted to reassure her, she could also sense that the other was deep in concentration, and breaking that state now would do more harm than good. All she could do was watch helplessly – it was all any of them could do.

And then, just when it felt like they would be waiting forever, the runes in front of Levy suddenly blazed with golden light. She gave a startled cry; the others sprang to their feet. "He did it!" Levy explained, her eyes wide. "Natsu's done it! Now, let's see what we've got here…"

She pulled another light pen out of her bag. Hesitantly at first, and then with growing confidence, she began to add geometric runes to the ones before her. She wrote in purple, matching the colour of Freed's barriers, but upon completion of each letter they turned to gold, settling down to form a continuous sentence. When her pen could reach no further, she simply scrolled the lines of text upwards through the air with her free hand, so she could add more words to the bottom. The others watched in amazement, not having a clue what she was doing – and all the more impressed because of it.

Presently, Levy put the lid back onto her pen and fixed the imposing wall of runes she had hand-written with a determined glare. "Right, then. Come on. Show me what you've got."

Almost immediately, the runes flashed and reverted to purple. A heartbeat later, they began to move through the air of their own accord, rearranging themselves into a vastly different design. The orderly column-like structure Levy had constructed spread out to form a complex pattern of rectangles of different sizes, their borders sketched out by lines of runes. Some of the lines of this irregular grid were only a single character wide and several long, running vertically or horizontally across the air.

Levy stared at it, completely dazed. "That's it," she whispered. "It actually worked!"

"Levy, you did it!" Droy cheered.

"That's our Levy!" Jet added.

"Awesome," Lucy grinned, and then she blinked. "…Levy, what exactly _is_ it that you've done?"

The excited girl waved a hand at the wall of runes. Even as they watched, some of them began to change in form, spontaneously rewriting themselves into a different letter. Other individual characters were actually moving between the lines of the grid. "This is all the information contained within Freed's network," she said, her voice filled with enthusiasm. "In other words, this is an exact copy of what he's seeing, wherever he is."

Slightly dismayed, Lucy replied, "That's all well and good, but… what is it that we're looking at?"

To her surprise, Erza was the one who replied. "It's a map." She had climbed onto the end of the bed, and was looking at the runes from over Levy's shoulder. "Isn't it, Levy?"

"I think so. This is Magnolia. The battlefield."

The others stared. "I'm not seeing it," Lucy told her, apologetically.

Nothing could dim Levy's spirits. "Here," she pointed. "Up at the top, this is our guildhall. And this box right in the middle is Kardia Cathedral. See?"

"Sort of." Lucy cocked her head to one side. "Then my house is about… here? That's odd. The streets don't seem to line up."

"Ah, the gridlines aren't streets, or even buildings," Levy explained. "Not necessarily. They're lines of runes that exist physically in the city – barriers, or traps waiting to be sprung. They match up with the actual streets and surround major landmarks just enough to give us a general idea of where in real space the runes correspond to. Sorry, it's probably only obvious when you can read what the runes say…"

"What are you apologizing for?" Lucy asked. "Levy, this is _incredible!_ "

The other girl blushed. "T-Thanks," she murmured.

Erza was still studying the runes with intent. The more she looked, the more she realized that the map in the centre was distinct from the two columns flanking it. "Levy. Are these the fights?"

Levy nodded, indicating the left-hand column. "Hang on, I might be able to…" She flourished the light pen once more, erasing and re-writing some of the words. Then the majority of the left-hand column rippled and reformed itself into a language they could read. It listed the pairs currently fighting each other, forced into conflict by Freed's runes. There weren't as many ongoing battles as they had expected. They hoped this was because their friends were taking care to split up and avoid the traps, but in their hearts, they worried that it was because many of them had already been beaten.

Unfortunately, Levy's next line reinforced their fears. "This tells us the number of people who have yet to be defeated: fifty."

"Half of us have been taken out already?" Erza observed. "This is worse than I thought."

"But with Levy's help, we can seize the advantage." Lucy objected to the disheartening statement. "Now that we know where the traps are, we can start helping people out, right, Levy?"

"I'll do my best," Levy nodded. Her words seemed distant. Her attention was fixed upon the information displayed in front of her, her eyes glowing faintly in the light from the runes. "Wait, these are… these are people!"

Excitement seized the girl once more; this time, she was practically bouncing up and down on the bed with exhilaration. "See these single runes, constantly disappearing and reappearing elsewhere? They're Fairy Tail mages! Look! The system can only register them when they pass over a line of runes, but it's constantly updating as they move past the waypoints… as long as they don't stray too far from the paths, you can track anyone in the city… this is unbelievable…" Her voice tailed off in awe. "How long must it have taken to construct these runes? Months? Years? Freed… I've never heard of anything like it!"

Someone else interrupted her. "We can respect our enemies' skills once the battle has been won." They all glanced up from the screen of magic to see Natsu standing in the doorway, Mira right behind him. The two of them strode into the room. Natsu tossed the borrowed light pen back to Levy. "There's only one important thing here – can we use this system against them?"

It was Erza who replied. The passion in her voice almost matched that of Levy herself. "Absolutely. The Raijinshuu's greatest weapon is confusion. They threw Fairy Tail into the dark, and used this system to force our allies to fight against each other in the chaos. It's the only way they had of defeating the entire guild with only four of them. With Levy's knowledge, we can banish that confusion, and begin to turn the tables."

"We can try," Levy cautioned, but she was smiling too.

"Then let's find a safe route for Happy and the others to come and join us," Natsu ordered.

"Why aren't they with you?" Erza asked.

"There was a wall; we got separated."

"What about you, Mira? Why are you alone?"

Mira glanced away. Regret was an expression that came naturally to the old man's face. "We ran into Evergreen. Gray fought her to buy me time to escape."

"Gray's fighting one of the Raijinshuu?" Erza exclaimed. "We have to get him out of there!"

"No." This was Lucy. She had never met the Raijinshuu, and felt very much out of her depth in this entire situation. But there was one thing she was certain of: she had faith in Gray. "We have to believe in Gray. He's fighting for us, so let's at least repay him by believing that he can win!"

Natsu grinned at her. "No way is that ice freak gonna lose to one of Laxus's lackeys!"

Lucy added, "I'm more worried about Happy and Loke. They can't defend themselves like Gray can-"

"I can't find either of them." Levy's worried tone cut through their conversation. She was scanning the map of runes over and over again, in the hope that she'd missed something obvious.

Erza narrowed her eyes. "How could I forget something so simple? We already know they don't show up on the map, because of Changeling."

"What about Gajeel?" Natsu suggested. "He might show up, if he's with them."

"Who?" asked Jet.

"Wait a minute…" began his teammate. "Isn't that the name of that Dragon Slayer who attacked us and Levy?"

"What's he doing here? Has he come to help Laxus?"

"No, he's on our side," Lucy stated. As Team Shadow Gear shared a look, she realized the implications of what she had said. Jet and Droy looked angry; Levy glanced down at the bed. "I know it's not the best time, Levy, and I know it's a lot to ask for you to forgive him after what he did. But the fight against Phantom Lord is over, and right now, Fairy Tail needs all the allies we can get. If there's any way you can put it aside for the time being-"

To her surprise, Levy gave her a small smile. "I understand. I'm a member of Fairy Tail too, you know. The guild always comes first."

"But Levy-" protested Jet.

"Silence," Erza snapped, and he obeyed immediately. Even as a cat, she could still strike terror into the heart of everyone in Fairy Tail. They had Levy's consent, and that was all that mattered for now.

"The runes are registering a powerful magical presence that doesn't belong to anyone in Fairy Tail. I guess that's a Dragon Slayer for you." The atmosphere in the room once again became tense and business-like. The resolve had returned to Levy's eyes as the situation began to pick up pace. "Yeah… he's only a few streets away. There are so many barriers between him and us, though. Navigating him around them without being able to communicate with him will take time that we don't have."

"We don't have a choice," began Erza fiercely. "Natsu! Go-"

"There might be another way." Levy wasn't looking at any of them. They were hanging on to her every word, but for all that she noticed, they might have been a million miles away. She was utterly fixated on the screen of runes in front of her. "I'm going to try something. I don't know if it will work, but… but I can try."

If they said anything in support, she didn't hear them. Levy uncapped her pen like a soldier would unsheathe a sword, and began her fight.

Words had power. That was something Levy had always understood. Like many children, when she was younger she had loved to read, but unlike most, she had never outgrown that passion – it had merely evolved into a different form. A love of stories had been transformed into an appreciation of the vast complexity of language, and from that, she had come to realize the true potential of the words themselves.

Alone, a word was meaningless. Said to someone who spoke a different language, it had no power whatsoever. The purpose of words was learnt through trial and error: by repeated association of sounds in the air with objects or people or feelings, they eventually acquired meaning. And yet, at the same time, words could grow to supersede the object that gave them form.

Words with multiple meanings. Words that changed their meaning depending on how they were used. Words that conveyed a meaning entirely different to what they actually said. Words with meanings which didn't exist in another language. Words that conjured memories. Words which transcended time and generation. Words that meant different things to different people – the same language, the same syntax, the same grammar, and yet what was understood from such a combination of words reflected as much about the listener as it did about what was meant by the speaker.

Words existed in a world totally independent from any physical reality. They described the real world, but they also surpassed it. That ability to supersede given meanings, that freedom to _create_ what the real world could not; it was unlike anything else that existed. That was the power of Solid Script.

Freed's magic was as different from Levy's as Natsu's fire was from Gray's ice. The rune magic he was using, Jutsu Shiki, was one of rules and structure. The very qualities that gave Solid Script its strength – freedom; spontaneity; the fluidity and power of meaning itself – were forbidden by the construction of his runes. This magic operated on strict rules – rules of grammar and syntax; formalism and pedantry. There could be no misunderstanding anything he wrote. Every rune had one meaning and one meaning only; the meaning Freed had bestowed upon it. The rules of the language made sure of it.

With Jutsu Shiki, everything had to be perfect. A single punctuation mark out of place would allow some flexibility into the sentence's meaning, thus allowing someone to deliberately misinterpret it and overrule its power. It was dangerous magic, because a single mistake could destroy it from within. But when done correctly, it was exceptionally powerful. The rules encoded in those runes and enforced with magic were absolute. No one could surpass them, not even a mage as strong as Makarov. If there was no way to cheat the runes, no possibility of intentionally misunderstanding them or slipping through some crack in meaning that Freed had not accounted for when he composed them, they would endure for eternity – or at least until the caster's magic power ran out.

Power from the nomological absoluteness of precisely-structured sentences; power from the freedom of expression and the relation of words to thought itself. Both were different types of Letter Magic, yet they were complete opposites. They required utterly different mindsets. Mastery of one excluded mastery of the other. Fire and ice.

Even so, Levy felt as if she could understand it. It was the power of words, expressed in a different form. When she read those books that she loved, it wasn't just the individual words that conjured up images in her mind and evoked emotions from her memory. The way they were assembled was just as important.

Old books, those timeless classics of literature – language changed with time and place, yet those novels she adored managed to retain their meaning over the years. The authors she admired, all magicians in a way she could never be, managed to move the hearts of readers with their choice of words and language, and yet convey one chosen emotion, one chosen meaning, one sentiment that surpassed the limits of time and made itself known to everyone who embraced their work. Freedom and formalism. Jutsu Shiki and Solid Script. Fire and ice working in tandem; the pinnacle of human achievement.

And Levy was no longer sat in that tense hospital-room-turned-battle-headquarters, embroiled in a war to determine the fate of the guild. In her mind, she was back in Fairy Tail's old guildhall, a cherished novel open on her lap. Sunlight streamed in through the windows. The sound of distant laughter brought a smile to her face. Home. Happiness. Everything that she wanted to protect.

Still smiling, Levy touched the tip of the pen to the runes before her and began to write.

* * *

Gray's ears rang with the sound of destruction: the collapsing of his ice structures; the reverberations of the earth beneath them; the shifting of the stone walls and cracked road as they gave in to the damage inflicted upon them and found new states of stability. And above it, one sound soared triumphant above all else – his opponent's laughter.

"Are you really going to fight me with your back turned?" Evergreen scorned. "You know, I can't stand men who won't look at me."

Gray pushed himself to his feet, overruling the complaints flooding in from all over his body. He was pushing his hearing to the limit, straining to make out any anomalous noises. With his back to his enemy, sound was the only means he had of detecting her approach.

"You're really not my type," he retorted. He sounded a lot more confident than he felt. All his instincts were screaming at him to turn around. The finishing blow could land at any moment, and he wouldn't even see it coming.

One footstep, and then another. She was approaching. "Foolish boy. I'll teach you a lesson."

Gray sensed more than heard the sudden spike of magic gathering behind him, and his nerve broke. He flung his right arm out behind his back, using a one-handed Ice Make – all he could do from that position – to send a barrage of ice lances flying out behind him in random directions. Evergreen just laughed. He didn't stand a chance of hitting her like that. Natsu might have been able to project his flames in a wide enough cone to catch her, but he couldn't generate that much ice, especially not with the magic he had already been throwing around that day.

To his surprise, the retaliation didn't come. Evergreen kept walking. How close was she now? Echoes were deceptive; locating someone by sound was extremely difficult to do without practice. Sweat broke out on his forehead. The urge to do _something_ was overwhelming, but there was nothing to be gained from wasting his energy with blind attacks. Angrily, he placed his hands together and created a blade of ice, which he grasped tightly. It wouldn't do him any good, but the feel of the weapon in his hands was comforting. He raised it in preparation.

And then he saw it: a flash of golden light in the smooth ice of the blade. A reflection from somewhere over his right shoulder.

There was no time to think. As Evergreen launched a golden ray towards him, he turned and ran in the direction he had seen the flash coming from, keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the ground. One step, then another, and then he swung the blade out in a wide arc. Startled by this sudden display of aggression, Evergreen jumped to the side and the magical ray that was supposed to finish him off burnt a hole through the low stone wall at the side of the road instead.

He didn't even notice how close he had come to being hit, or how one mistake would bring Evergreen's Stone Eyes into his line of sight. There was only one thought in Gray's mind: maintain this momentum. "Ice Make: Floor!" As the sword disappeared, he clapped his hands together and pressed them against the ground. A thin sheet of ice spread rapidly across the road.

"That won't work on me!" Evergreen sang. Before the ice could trip her, her wings materialized once more and she jumped into the air. "You're dealing with a _fairy_ here, remember?"

"Oh, I remember," Gray grinned. He didn't take his eyes off the ice floor he had made – the _reflective_ ice floor. Amidst the bright blue of the mirrored sky there was a single fuzzy anomaly; though not more than an indistinct shadowy blur upon the uneven surface of the ice, it was enough to give away Evergreen's position. Not giving her a chance to figure out his plan, he ran straight for it, guided by the reflection, and then he was in the air with his eyes firmly shut, bringing an ice hammer down right where Evergreen was hovering.

She dodged; the strike only caught her a glancing blow, casting her down to the ground. It wasn't nearly enough to end the fight, but the significance of that move wasn't lost on either of them. In order to fight without his sight, Gray had to use his head, and he had worked out exactly how to counter Stone Eyes. Far from being ill-suited to this match up, he couldn't imagine a branch of magic that would work better than ice magic against her.

It just required him to think outside the box. He had to stop trying to fight with sheer power, and start analysing the situation. A plane wall of ice, cast at the right angle, could act as a mirror. When it formed naturally as crystals, the imperfections scattered the light and took away any precision he might have hoped for in the reflection, but he was no ordinary ice mage – he had been trained by Ur. Altering the rate at which he froze the water in the air was nothing to him, and in doing so, he could even change its properties.

It was all a matter of optics. Light, moving in straight lines. Total internal reflection at the ice-air boundary. Refraction. Diffraction. Through the medium of his ice creations, these simple laws were weapons at his disposal.

He could feel the power of Evergreen's Stone Eyes tearing through the air around him, and he gritted his teeth, refusing to look as she picked herself up from the floor. She still had the advantage, but her composure had been lost. Fairy dust swirled like a swarm of angry mites around her raised hand, and Gray wasn't about to give her the chance to strike him with it. Channelling his magic power towards his feet, he made a pair of ice skates to let him glide across the frozen road.

When he heard her launching an attack towards him, he simply created a smooth pillar of ice and skated behind it. She yelled in frustration as time and time again, her Fairy Machine Gun's bullets of energy were scattered by his ice creations. With her wings too damaged to fly easily, and not daring to try chasing him across the slippery ice, Evergreen was pinned to her position, forced to turn on the spot to keep up with him as he skated past. Forcing so many pillars of ice up out of the floor was draining his magic power at an alarming rate, but he only needed them to last for a moment more. He already had the perfect spell to finish this, after all. He and Lucy had created it together.

Gray completed a full revolution around his opponent. No fewer than six rectangular slabs of ice, each one taller than either of them, ringed her like silent sentinels. Each one reflected back her own image. Too late, she realized what he was planning.

With a grin, Gray skidded to a stop. Just for a moment, he dared to meet her eyes. Then his right fist was on his left palm and a brilliant magic seal as large as he was materialized in front of him. "Ice Make: Mirror Wall!"

The light was blinding; the release of magic power even more so. The pillars he had created took on a dazzling sheen, merging together to create a perfectly smooth cylinder, entrapping Evergreen within. Without Lucy's celestial magic power to resonate with, it was a mere shadow of the defensive magic that had even repelled the Jupiter Cannon, but his determination to win lent him the power to surpass his own limits. Mirror Wall was more than just a barrier – it was a creation which reflected non-physical magic; a technique which made Evergreen the victim of her most powerful attack.

Silence fell. It was over, wasn't it? Gray let his raised arms fall to his sides, breathing heavily. The ice floor cracked and broke apart into shards of magic; the urge to sink to his knees was overwhelming. He almost wished Natsu had been there to see his triumph, but he was also glad that his rival wasn't around to witness his exhaustion-

Was that a crack? Surely not. Surely he was just being paranoid. It had to be over.

Then it came again: that sound of something splintering. With dread filling his heart, he turned back to his ice prison – just in time to see the entire thing break apart in a burst of light. At the centre of the explosion stood Evergreen, completely unharmed.

Even worse, she was laughing. "That was a good attempt, I'll admit. But do you really think I'm not aware of the weakness of my own magic? Of course I'm immune to my own Stone Eyes!"

"No…" he murmured. But really, what had he expected from one of the Raijinshuu? If the three of them and Laxus thought they could take on the entire guild, Changeling or otherwise, they were obviously going to be powerful. He had tried his best, and it just hadn't been enough.

But if he couldn't defeat her, then who could? With Changeling still in effect, right now he was possibly the most powerful ally that Fairy Tail had. And if he fell against the first opponent, how could he face the rest of his guild? They were counting on him. He couldn't give up, not while there was still an ounce of magic power left in his body.

He forced a grim smile. "Ready for another round then, are you?"

And then he saw it. Just for a moment, her smug expression faltered, and Gray understood two things at once.

The first was something he had known from the start, though he hadn't stopped to consider the implications of it before that moment. This wasn't some nameless Phantom Lord mage he was fighting, but Evergreen of Fairy Tail. She was fighting for her beliefs and for Laxus, just as he was fighting for his beliefs and his own friends. He wasn't the only one who would push on despite the odds. It wasn't as simple as friends versus enemies; it was a clash of worldviews, both of them protecting what they believed was right with equal passion.

And the second thing was that she was bluffing. Stone Eyes hadn't affected her fully, but neither had it had no impact on her whatsoever. He only caught a glimpse behind her glasses, but he was certain of it. That greyish dust around her eyes, rapidly turning back to pink flesh; the sluggishness to her movements, as if she was awakening from a deep sleep. Maybe she had cancelled the spell before it could fully turn her to stone, or maybe the repeated use of such magic really had allowed her to build up a resistance to it over the years. Either way, it was the only opening he had.

If neither of them would give up, then they would fight it out until the end. Gray considered the magic power he had remaining. There was no point in holding anything back – if he was going to win, it would have to be now, by gambling everything on one final blow. Should he run in and hit her with everything he had? A couple of weeks ago, his answer would have been a resounding _yes_ , as he was sure Natsu's answer would still be. But Changeling had taught him nothing if not the importance of adaptability. Sheer power wasn't always the way forwards.

Stone Eyes was magic emitted from the eyes, the reverse of light entering them. But the similarities went further than simply that. Since it required a direct line of sight to work, her magic clearly travelled in straight lines, like light. Its effect dropped off rapidly with range, most likely a consequence of propagating through air; a medium that wasn't a true vacuum. Likewise, a few inches of ice were enough to completely nullify it, as – thanks to its higher refractive index – were the mere few millimetres of glass she normally used to suppress it. Scattering, reflection, refraction; the boundaries of different media were its weakness, breaking it apart and unfocussing it until its effects could be shrugged off with the smallest amount of magic power.

All the evidence pointed to Stone Eyes being a magic that travelled as light did, with the same strengths – and the same weaknesses. Gray wasn't an expert on optical theory, but then again, he didn't need to be. Using orbs of ice to light cooking fires by focussing the sun's rays had been a standard part of his training in the mountains with Ur. The use of a lens did not require a complete understanding of how light worked.

That entire thought process had taken him less than a second. He had made his decision, and already his magic power was welling up inside him, shaping itself to his will.

Fully recovered from the reflected effects of her own spell, Evergreen reached up to remove her glasses once more. There was no more need for words between them; it was clear she wasn't holding back, and he would have lost all respect for her if she had been. "Stone Eyes!"

Gray made his move. Clapping his hands together, he created another two Mirror Walls of perfectly-carved ice, each placed at precisely the angle he needed.

"It won't work!" Evergreen yelled at him.

But she was wrong. Simply reflecting the magic back at her wasn't good enough, he knew that. But if her spell could be scattered by imperfect mirrors, it could also be focussed by a perfect lens. The arrangement of mirrors set up the reflections back to her perfectly.

Springing in between Evergreen and one of them, Gray dropped to his knees and raised his arms to the sky. This was it. Everything he had, gambled on the laws of physics.

Proudly, he told her, "Yes, it will. I'm a user of Make Magic. I'm limited only by my imagination… and my knowledge of geometric optics. Ice Make: Spherical Lens!"

An enormous magic seal materialized between his arms, resting on his back between his shoulder blades. He poured the last of his magic power into it, along with all his desire to win. It blazed brilliantly and formed into an enormous plano-convex lens of ice.

The effect was immediate. Evergreen didn't even have the chance to react. The magic reflected back towards her suddenly shot up in intensity, all gathered and focussed down to the exact point where she was standing. The air seethed with the concentration of magic power. It only took an instant for the magic to overcome her natural resistance to it and-

And then, just as quickly as it had started, it stopped. It took Evergreen a moment to work out why. An enormous crack ran along the diameter of the lens. Before either of them had a chance to react, the crack widened and the ice lens broke in two, the top half falling and smashing apart against Gray's body.

He slumped to the ground, reeling from the blow. What had happened? Had his magic power failed him? No – he had just been too ambitious. A freestanding ice lens of that size and thickness simply couldn't support its own weight. There were some physical limits that all the magic in the world couldn't overcome, and in his eagerness to win, he had failed to appreciate that.

Nor did he get the chance to rectify his mistake. Evergreen was well aware that only sheer luck had saved her from being defeated by her own magic, and she wasn't about to throw away the second chance that fortune had given her. Her hand was still shaking from the shock of it, even as she fired a powerful beam of energy towards Gray's prone form, knocking him out instantly.

She had won, but she should have lost. She may have been too proud to admit that out loud, but she knew it was the truth. Laxus had told them the guild was weak – had he been wrong?

No, she couldn't accept that. Laxus knew what he was doing. She trusted him. And he was counting on her. She couldn't let herself come so close to losing again. It would ruin the entire purpose of his plan if the Raijinshuu let themselves be defeated here.

Frowning, Evergreen glanced back towards the city, hoping that her allies were having more luck than she was.

* * *

"No! No, no, _no!_ Agh!"

"Levy, what's wrong?" Lucy exclaimed, alarmed.

"Don't push yourself too hard," warned Mira, as worried by the girl's reaction as Lucy was. In her short old man's body, she couldn't see very easily from the floor, so she was stood anxiously on the bed next to Levy's. She was frozen in an action pose, as if she was about to spring over to the girl's side at any moment.

Levy didn't seem to be listening to either of them. Her unblinking gaze was locked onto the wall of glowing runes in front of her. Right now, that single virtual screen of words, incomprehensible to the rest of them, was her entire world. "I'm _so_ close! But every time I get near, he kicks me out again!"

Everyone else in the room exchanged confused looks. Lucy spoke the words they were all thinking. "Who does?"

Levy glanced at her friend, as if she had only just remembered there were other people in the room. "Freed, of course. He's out there somewhere, monitoring this entire system just like I am. Every time I get close to cracking the rules he's using, he alters them. The entire structure of the language and the system he's built with it changes, just like that, in an instant! How's he even _doing_ that? Changing the rules of the game just isn't fair!"

Levy's voice was a mixture of passion and admiration. From what she was saying, they would have expected her to be frustrated, but it was completely the opposite. She was excited; enthusiastic; eager. If that look had been in Natsu's eyes, they would have described him as fired-up. Natsu enjoyed fighting strong opponents whose very presences would send ordinary people running, and this was Levy's equivalent. Not a physical battle, but a contest of intellects; of knowledge of language and skills of grammar. It was personal, yet indirect – a magical battle where no one had to get hurt.

"I was so close that time, as well," she continued, narrowing her eyes in mock ferocity at the screen. "Right. This is it. I'll get him this time for sure."

Intrigued eyes watched her every motion as she touched the tip of the light pen to the intangible screen and began to print a line of neat golden runes on top of the purple ones already there in the right-hand column. She had almost reached the end of the line when they finally saw what they had been missing every time – the way that a tremor seemed to pass through the purple letters, as they systematically rewrote themselves into entirely different words in an instant.

Levy let out a sigh. "Oh, come on." Before her eyes, the purple runes shimmered and altered again. "Well now he's just screwing with me. Come on, Freed, play fair. Now I'll have to start over… Oh, and now Gajeel has moved! Damn it!"

"Don't worry about it, Levy," Lucy tried to reassure her. "Beating Freed at his own game was far too much to ask; he's probably been planning for this for ages! Just being able to see what's going on will be a massive help."

"Yeah, all we need to do now is use the map to find the Raijinshuu and beat them in battle!" Natsu declared. For someone without any magic, he was far too enthusiastic at the prospect. Some people just defied logic like that. "So, Levy, where are they?"

"That's odd," the blue-haired girl murmured.

"Huh? Me? That's rude-" Natsu began.

"Shut up, Natsu," Erza snapped, and he obeyed immediately.

"He's…" Levy tailed off. Frowning, she raised the pen and began writing once more. This time, she managed an entire line of runes without being countered. And then another. And another. Still the transition she was expecting didn't happen. After having been thrown out of the system every time so far, the sudden lack of any resistance was almost worrying enough to stop her from carrying on to the end. It was almost certainly a trap. But if she was too afraid to take risks then she was never going to win, so, with her mouth set in a firm line, she took the bait, and finished the rule she was attempting to overload onto his system.

And, unbelievably, the rune network accepted it without complaint. That meant she had got the rules right; had written her new command in that ancient alphabet well enough to pass as Freed. The magical barrier that she hoped Gajeel was still stood in front of temporarily collapsed into nothing. Doing more than momentarily suppressing barriers would require more thought and construction, but even this would be a massive step forwards for them. If only Gajeel would understand that it wasn't a trap, and move into the path she had opened for him.

Any reservations she may have harboured about Phantom Lord's Dragon Slayer taking their side in this conflict vanished in the wake of her success. She wanted nothing more than to see that character representing him cross the suppressed rune barrier, and show up just for one brief moment on the other side of the wall - and prove that they could do this.

Then, as if her thoughts had reached him, she saw the sign that she had hoped for. The symbol disappeared again as he moved beyond the narrow line of runes and out of its detection range, but at least he was going in the right direction, and hopefully he'd be bringing Happy and Loke with him. Or maybe they were the ones dragging him along. She didn't care either way. Nothing could dampen her spirits at that moment.

Nor was Levy the only one who had noticed. "That barrier just vanished!" Mira observed, pointing. "Levy, did you do that?"

"Yeah." The young mage couldn't keep the smile off her face. "Though I have no idea why it suddenly worked. Freed should have been able to block me again just as easily as before, and for some reason, he just… didn't. He's stopped fighting back all of a sudden, and I don't know why."

"I do." This was Erza. She indicated the side of the great rune screen that they could all read – the section listing the current ongoing battles. A new one had been added to the top of the list: _Freed vs. Mystogan_.

"Mystogan's back!" Natsu cheered.

"I love that guy already," grinned Lucy. "He's mysterious as hell, but he sure seems to show up right when he is needed."

"I may have never seen his face, but he's certainly loyal to Fairy Tail," Erza told her sincerely. "The Master trusts him, and that's good enough for me."

"Is he strong enough to beat Freed, though?"

It was Mira who answered. "Mystogan is probably the only one in contention with Laxus for the positon of strongest in the guild right now."

"What do you mean, _only_ one?" Natsu protested, but everyone ignored him.

"He's S-Class, and Freed isn't," Erza informed Lucy, who had yet to master all the intricacies of the guild's power hierarchy. "But Freed has been away from the guild for a long time, being personally trained by Laxus. And given how he was able to set up rune traps all over the city, I'd be amazed if he hadn't put up extra defences around his hiding place. It could be a close match."

"Then let's not pass up this chance he's buying us," Levy declared, the fierce sparkle of competition returning to her eyes. "We'll take control of Freed's system while we can, and claim Magnolia back from Laxus's side! I'll-"

"Wait," Erza interrupted, and the sudden dismay in her tone was enough to strangle even Levy's enthusiasm. "There's another battle update."

No one spoke this one aloud. Just reading it was bad enough. _Evergreen vs. Gray. Winner: Evergreen_.

Lucy clapped a hand to her mouth. "No…"

Natsu gave a choking exclamation. "Ice freak _lost?_ "

"This is my fault," said Mira, her eyes widening in a vulnerable manner not at all befitting Makarov's gruff old face. "I left him there…"

"It's no one's fault," Erza overrode her. There was a slight impatience to her tone; the middle of a battle was not the time to start dishing out blame. Despite the fact that she was still a cat, it was the confidence of a leader that she spoke with. Lucy was abruptly reminded of how she had taken control during the assault on Phantom Lord's guildhall. She continued, "This is the danger of the Raijinshuu. We mustn't take our opponents lightly. There's nothing we can do for Gray now except hope he's alright. We've got to move on. Levy!"

"Erza?"

"Can you keep neutralizing those barriers and bring Gajeel, Happy and Loke here?"

Levy nodded. "It seems Freed can't rewrite the code while he's fighting off Mystogan. I've got some control over the system for as long as their battle lasts."

"Then do what you can. We're counting on you."

"I won't let you down," she smiled, and then any subsequent gratitude they might have offered her fell on deaf ears as she seized up her pen and threw herself once more into the world of letters and meanings.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** So it probably won't come as a surprise to you to learn that I only just scraped a pass in the EM/Optics exam. Pseudoscience for the win. But in terms of this chapter being my first proper one-on-one fight scene, I think it was fairly successful. From here on out, battles like this are going to start cropping up from time to time, since characters are starting to get their magic back - and they're not exactly my strong point, so hopefully I did okay here. _

_Also, I got to rant this chapter about something I find really awesome but know next to nothing about - the philosophy of language. I love Levy and wanted to give her a chance to shine, so why the hell not? Plus, I had a lot of fun playing around with the rune system and defining how it actually works, rather than leaving it as some vague thing which just conveniently does the stuff it's needed to do. I wanted it to do essentially the same job it does in canon while also making it a lot more crude and imperfect, because the omniscience (and omnipotence) of the system in canon always struck me as being unrealistically overpowered. At least this way the good guys stand a chance of being able to change how Laxus's game will be played, rather than immediately losing because their allies have taken each other out and all their strongest mages have been compromised by Changeling... Alright, alright, I admit, this entire storyline is really just me having fun with Fantasia's battle mechanic. So sue me. ~CS_


	12. Out of Time

_**A/N:** Chapter Twelve, up 24 hours early because I'm going away for a few days and I may or may not have internet access. I'll reply to any reviews/PMs when I get back. ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve: Out of Time**

The door to the hospital ward burst open and three more people joined the crowd assembling in the makeshift base. Happy loudly proclaimed his arrival to the entire world, before running up to Natsu, who seemed pleased that his friend and teammate had made it through unscathed. Gajeel was the opposite, trying to attract as little attention as possible. He slunk in through the door as if he still didn't know what he was doing there, positioning himself with his back to the wall and folding his arms. Jet and Droy were glaring at him openly; he pretended not to notice. Loke took the middle ground, pleased to feel safe again but never the centre of attention – not when the only women around were his teammates, anyway.

That didn't stop Lucy from running over to him eagerly. "You made it!" she grinned.

"Yeah, we were lucky not to run into anyone else – friend or foe," Loke told her, a serious look on his face. Then he gave a sudden frown. "It was strange, though. The barriers in front of us kept vanishing. It was almost as if someone _wanted_ us to meet up with you guys…"

"Oh, that was Levy," Lucy told him brightly.

"Levy?"

"She's hacked into Freed's rune system and can overwrite some of his walls!"

Loke's eyes widened. "That's amazing. It's even better than we had hoped for."

Even Gajeel, listening in on their conversation from the side, looked impressed. Perhaps he had been too hasty in judging Levy - and by extension, her guild - as weak from their first confrontation. Her magic might not be the best suited to combat, but she had seized control of the rune barriers that even his Dragon Slayer magic couldn't shatter.

Levy glanced up at them. "I would never have been able to do it without Mystogan," she protested modestly.

"She keeps saying that, but really, she's being awesome," Lucy whispered conspiratorially to Loke, who grinned in response.

"So, what now?" Natsu interrupted them all. He stood in the centre of the room, hands on his hips. He was far more suited to being the centre of attention than Loke was right now. "We've accomplished that mission; what's the next task, Erza?"

To his surprise, the cat glanced away. "Don't ask me," she replied defensively.

Remembering how authoritative she had been just a few moments earlier, Natsu had automatically deferred to her as the one giving orders, yet now Erza was refusing to accept his acknowledgement of her. Far from assuming the mantle of their leader, one she had embraced with eagerness and competence many times in the past, she looked as if she wanted nothing more than to Requip some armour and hide. Mira regarded her thoughtfully, trying to work out what had so suddenly made her friend seek protection.

Natsu wasn't at all bothered by Erza's change of heart, instead laughing joyfully at her concession. "That means we can do what we want, right?" He slammed his fists together, as if readying some Dragon Slayer magic. "Alright! Laxus is going _down!_ "

"Hang on a minute," interrupted Jet. "Isn't anyone going to ask what _he's_ doing here?"

"Huh?" Natsu blinked. "Oh, that's Gajeel."

"We know who he is-" Droy replied.

"And he's helping us in this battle against Laxus," Natsu added cheerfully.

"He's our enemy!"

"Not any more. Phantom Lord got disbanded, and once this whole thing is over, he's going to join Fairy Tail officially."

"Hang on a minute-"

"You can't just make decisions like that! We'll never forgive him for what he did to Levy!"

"Yeah! And no way is he joining our guild until we've paid him back double for what he did to us!"

Gajeel narrowed his eyes at the two members of Team Shadow Gear. His metal piercings glinted with sinister light. "Oh? Want a rematch, do you?"

"Sure, we'll fight you," Jet replied, with far more confidence than he felt.

"No one is going to fight anyone," Mira interrupted them, sternly. "We're not going to solve all our problems with violence. We're better than that."

"To be fair, though," Natsu added helpfully, "We _do_ solve most of Fairy Tail's problems with violence."

"Now he's talking sense," Gajeel grinned. "Come over here, and we'll-"

"Enough of this," Erza interrupted, with enough of her old self back in her voice to cause all of them to fall silent at once. "What would the Master think if he saw us fighting amongst ourselves at this critical time?"

"Well he's not the Master any more, is he?" Droy retorted.

"No," acceded Erza, quietly; darkly. "But we're still Fairy Tail, aren't we? Leave Gajeel alone for the time being. We need him. Once this is over, the three of you can settle this in whatever way you wish."

"But, Levy-"

"I agree with Erza." There was an uncharacteristic annoyance in Levy's tone. Whether it was because they were arguing over a trivial matter of revenge, or simply because they were interrupting her work, they couldn't be sure. Looking directly at the Dragon Slayer, she told him, "If you're really going to help Fairy Tail, then we'll put the past behind us, okay?"

Gajeel looked away haughtily. It was the closest thing to an agreement she would get from him.

"Anyway, we don't have time for this. I won't have control of Freed's system forever. We need a plan of action, now."

"Erza, can I talk to you for a minute?" Mira said. It wasn't a request. Without waiting for an answer, she bounded down from the bed and strode towards the door, beckoning the cat as she passed. At first, it looked like Erza wasn't going to obey. Mira paused, holding the door open. She glanced impatiently over her shoulder, and eventually, with great reluctance, Erza followed.

As soon as the door had swung shut behind them, the two young women – one currently a strange blue cat, and the other a tiny old man – stopped and looked at each other. "Erza," Mira began. Realizing that her voice sounded too gruff, she tried to seem a little kinder. As Makarov, it was difficult to express herself. "You need to take charge of the situation."

Erza had guessed this was coming. It was why she had been so reluctant to have this conversation, after all. Her response was clear. "No."

Mira was also expecting this – she had been from the moment Erza had refused to talk to her alone. That didn't help her to know what to say, though. Should she beg? Use reasoned arguments? Try to play on the other's guilt? She knew exactly what she would have done to win the old Erza over to her side, but then again if it was the old Erza she was dealing with, there wouldn't be any need for persuasion in the first place. The Erza in front of her, the one whose outward appearance as a cat didn't even begin to do justice to the tumultuous internal change that had come over her since Changeling, was not the friend and rival she had grown up with. Mira thought that understanding that, understanding just how shaken Erza was inside, might be the key to bringing Titania back.

"Erza, we need you," she said simply.

"Why don't you do it?" retorted the cat. "You've had no problems taking over the Master's role." The way she said it made it sound like an accusation.

"I can't lead anyone in a fight," Mira told her steadily, refusing to rise to the bait. "I'm not even a mage any more. I don't remember the last time I fought, let alone won. I don't know how to win a battle like this. I wouldn't even know where to start. But you, Erza – you do."

"No, I don't." Flat. Full of despair - and even worse, self-loathing. That was not Erza speaking. It couldn't be. Fairy Tail's Titania – the friend and inspiration to everyone in the guild – would never say anything like that.

"Yes, you do. You need to coordinate everyone again, just like you did in the retreat from Phantom Lord."

Erza's eyes flashed. "That's not what happened. You weren't there. You don't understand!"

"Lucy told me all about it. She was full of admiration for you, Erza. Everyone got out of there alive, thanks to you-"

"No!" Erza practically screamed, striking the wall with her paw. "That's _not_ what happened! I thought I could do that, but I was wrong! I failed! I led everyone into a trap! I didn't save _anyone_ ; I almost got everyone killed! If Mystogan hadn't shown up when he did… He… I… It was all my fault…"

Her voice tailed away to nothing. Her eyes were glistening with moisture. "I was so useless in that fight. Lucy, Loke, Happy… even without magic, they were fighting. And you put your life on the line to buy us some time. But me? I couldn't do anything to protect the people I care about. I could only watch, while they protected me. And then… when I realized I could move around the battlefield without being noticed; when I found a good vantage point from which I could see everything that was going on… I thought I had finally found a way that I could help. I thought I could still protect my guild and my friends, like a true S-Class Mage… and I was wrong. I was arrogant; naïve; stupid to think that I'm good for anything in this body. That foolishness almost got everyone killed. That's why I can't do this, Mira. It'll just happen again."

"Erza, don't be so stupid. No one expects you to be able to do something like this perfectly on your first try. But this _is_ something you can do! Magic is not the only type of power in this world. Until you get your old body back, this is what we need you to do. Lead Fairy Tail."

"I told you, I can't!"

"Yes, you can! You definitely have it in you, and you know you do. Look at the way you dealt with Jet, Droy and Gajeel just now, or how you're stopping Natsu from rushing off on his suicide mission, or your organization of the teams when we got out of the trap earlier. We need someone to guide us through this chaos if we're going to stand a chance of rescuing our friends and stopping Laxus's plan. You are the only one who can do this. You're the leader that we need in battle, Erza."

"But… if I make a bad decision, everyone will be in danger, just like before…"

"Everyone makes mistakes, Erza. What matters is how you deal with them. Don't let what happened last time drag you down; move on, and keep fighting for the future. How many times have you encouraged people with those exact same words? It's no different, just because this isn't a physical battle you're fighting."

"I…"

"And you're not alone. I'll be right there with you, and Levy, and Lucy, and everyone – we've got to unite to win this battle. Help us, Erza. Fairy Tail needs you."

Erza thought about it for a moment, letting out a heavy sigh. "I… I'll do what I can," she said.

Mira visibly relaxed. "Great. With your help, we can definitely begin to dismantle Laxus's game."

Erza tried to smile in response. "I hope so." She turned round to return to the room that had become their base of operations, and then hesitated. "Thank you, Mira."

"That's alright," her friend smiled.

It was only after Erza had re-entered the room, leaving Mira alone in the empty corridor, that she added quietly, "After all, this is the only thing _I_ can do right now…"

* * *

"What do you _mean_ you can't find Laxus?"

"I mean exactly what I said!" Levy told Natsu crossly. She was normally a very patient person, but Natsu could push anyone over the limit, especially when they were trying to talk and keep control of a city-spanning network of unfamiliar magic at the same time. "None of the Raijinshuu trigger Freed's barriers, so I can't tell you where any of them are!"

"Can't you make it recognize them? You said you'd added Gajeel to the system!"

"That's different." Levy frowned, trying to think of a way to make the impatient fire mage understand. "The system could already see Gajeel's magical presence, it just didn't know what to make of it – so I just registered him as another member of Fairy Tail and it was happy. On the other hand, these spells are especially designed _not_ to acknowledge the presences of Laxus and the Raijinshuu. I guess it's a safety mechanism of sorts, so they can move freely about the city without worrying about their own traps. Finding and reversing a rule that already exists is entirely different to adding a new, non-contradictory one. I'm doing my best, but there's still an awful lot about this system that I don't understand."

Natsu's head was swimming from all the explanation. He shook his head to clear it, like a dog trying to dry itself, and tried a different tack. "What about Freed then? I'd settle for fighting him right now."

"I just told you-"

"Yeah, but we know he's fighting Mystogan, so can't we just find him?"

"Good thinking, Natsu!" Happy cheered, but Levy just shook her head.

"Again, it's not that simple. The barriers aren't omniscient. A system which could completely encompass the entire city and monitor the location of every person within it would require inconceivable amounts of magic power – not to mention computational power. Freed's system only registers the presence of a mage when their magical presence overlaps with the barrier's location. Basically, I can only see people when they're moving over runes. Wherever Mystogan and Freed are fighting, they're not moving around much, so Mystogan isn't crossing any barriers, and he's invisible to the system. It's the same with Gray. After he lost to Evergreen, he hasn't shown up once in the system since I've been watching. I can only hope that it's because he's unconscious and so isn't moving around…"

Natsu clenched his fist. "Then I'll just have to find Laxus by hand!"

"Absolutely not." Erza had returned to the room just in time to correct that little misstatement. The icy crack of her voice sent Natsu running for cover. "There's been a change of plan."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Natsu, I need you to go and find Warren."

"Warren? Why?"

Erza sighed at the blank look on his face. "Because we need to start coordinating the movements of those on the battlefield. We have to break our colleagues out of this chaos, bring them here – where they'll be safe from Freed's traps – and start working out how to fight back. We don't have the time to do it person by person. We need to do as much as we can before the Raijinshuu catch on, and for that, we need Warren's telepathic powers to communicate with the guild."

"Erza, that's brilliant!" Lucy told her, eyes shining.

"It's obvious, really," replied the cat, embarrassed. "Levy, can you-?"

"Already found him," came the reply. "He's a few streets away from Kardia Cathedral, by the looks of things. Here." The others leaned in closely as Levy used her pen to indicate a route. "If you take this path, there'll only be one or two rune traps. Stick to it if you can. If you encounter any barriers, and then they disappear, that's probably me opening the way for you – but I can't guarantee I'll be able to do that, so if you get stuck, it might be best to find another way around."

"With Loke's magic, this'll be easy," Natsu smirked.

Immediately, Loke added, "I think I should go as well."

"No offence, Loke, but you'll only slow me down."

"No, take Loke with you," Erza ordered. "If you encounter an enemy or a barrier, you'll be able to split up."

"I'll go as well," added Lucy. "If the worst comes to the worst, I still have some time left on my contract with Horologium today."

Erza gave a swift nod. "Very well. I'm counting on you three."

* * *

Natsu, Loke and Lucy jogged at a cautious pace through Magnolia, the first time they had ever walked these streets and not felt safe. Well, it wasn't their home any more, was it? It was a warzone.

And even worse than the feeling that an enemy might be hiding behind every corner were the decorations that the townsfolk had put up in preparation for the harvest festival. Balloons, corn wreaths, paper decorations – they lined all the streets in the central shopping district, eagerly awaiting the Fantasia Parade; Fairy Tail's celebration of life, community and magic. There would be no Fantasia this year. There was only this great civil war. And the people of Magnolia didn't even know it yet. What would they say, if they knew what was going on in Fairy Tail right now? If they saw what their beloved guild had become?

And Laxus was the one to blame. His heart aflame with anger, Natsu led the way, with the others keeping pace just behind him. Freed's barriers couldn't stop him, and he wasn't the slightest bit afraid of running into one of the Raijinshuu – no, he _wanted_ to fight. The Phantom Lord encounter had given Gray, Mystogan and Laxus too much of a chance to show off. He wanted to firmly re-establish his claim to be the strongest in Fairy Tail, whatever Erza might say about his current abilities.

He was so determined not to be stopped that what brought him down in the end wasn't a barrier or an enemy, but a sudden absence of his own strength. All the energy seemed to drain from his legs. For a moment he experienced the strange feeling of trying to run in a weightless environment – and then he was falling face-first towards the ground, too startled to stop himself.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried, and tried to catch him, only to have her hand pass right through his body. She and Loke came to a halt as Natsu fell, fear and panic freezing their feet in place.

"There's no need to yell," Natsu muttered crossly from the ground. "I just tripped over, that's all. Talk about an overreaction. If Happy were here, he'd just say something a bit mean, but mostly funny, and…"

Neither of them were listening to a word he was saying. His entire body, even the clothes he was wearing, were fading from sight. Loke and Lucy exchanged looks of horror. "Is this…?" Lucy asked.

Loke nodded. "We're out of time. Natsu…"

"Out of time?" Natsu echoed. "Again, you're overreacting. We can carry on now. Just, uh, give me a minute to, ah…"

He tried to pick himself up from the ground, only to have his knees collapse underneath him again. He knew they were both watching him closely. There was no point in pretending he was alright, so he gave a defensive shrug. "Okay, so I'm not at my best. Maybe you two should go on without me. We don't want to keep Erza waiting… you know what she's like…"

They still weren't listening. Lucy said, "We've got to do something. I'm going to try opening your Gate, Loke."

"You can't! Lucy, you'll die!" In a panic, Loke glanced from Natsu's steadily disappearing form to Lucy's resolved stance; between two equally-bad choices.

"I've got to try and save Natsu!"

"Lucy?" This was Natsu, finally putting himself into their conversation. He looked up at the two of them earnestly. Not blaming them for keeping secrets; not demanding to know what was going on – more worried about the two of them than himself, even though his body was vanishing into nothing. That was Natsu. That was the friend she would risk everything to protect.

Loke put a hand on her shoulder, a silent plea for her to stop. Without waiting for a response, he sat down in the middle of the street, in front of Natsu. "Natsu… I'm sorry. This is all my fault."

"What are you on about now?"

Lucy stared at Loke, surprised – and a little proud – that he was prepared to reveal his secret just like that. She supposed they no longer had a choice.

Trying and failing to maintain his calm persona despite everything, Loke said, "Natsu, I'm a Celestial Spirit."

"No way-!" Natsu began, his eyes lighting up, before Loke cut him off.

"But, to cut a long story short, I committed the sin of killing my previous master. So I am exiled from the Spirit World, forced to remain here until my magic power runs out and I vanish into nothing." Those words, those painful words, said as quickly and carelessly as if they were simply a comment on the weather. "My time was almost up, but then… Changeling happened. And now the person about to die is… is you."

"Now you mention it, that does explain a lot," Natsu remarked, surprisingly cheerful about the situation.

Loke's voice cracked. "Natsu, how can you be so calm? You're dying, and it's my fault!"

"But no one's going to die, though!" Lucy said forcefully. "Natsu, this is the plan. I'm going to try and open the Gate of the Lion. If I can connect the two worlds, there's a chance we might be able to return you to the Spirit World, where you could possibly regain enough of your – well, Loke's – energy as a Spirit to keep you alive."

She glanced between them. Loke had given up trying to convince her. Natsu looked slightly confused. It was up to her now. She took a deep breath. If the Gate refused to open, trying it could easily consume all of her magic power. But as she had said so many times to Loke, it was worth the risk. What was the use in being a Celestial Spirit mage if she couldn't even do something like this?

"Gate of the-"

Before she could get any further, someone seized her wrist. Natsu. Through a great effort of will, he had not only managed to stand up, but also forced his hand to become substantial enough to hold Lucy's own in place. "Natsu?" she whispered, far more questions in that one word than she could dare to speak out loud.

He locked eyes with her. Even coming from behind Loke's glasses, that was the stare of a dragon. Natsu wore a grim expression; when he was this serious, this intense, there was no one who could stop him.

And then, just as inexplicably, he grinned, and the old Natsu was back. "Nah," he said. "Don't go opening any Gates like that."

"But Natsu, weren't you listening-?"

"Of course I was listening! What do you take me for? Honestly, you're worse than Happy." Still staring at him in shock, his attempt at a light-hearted comment flew straight over Lucy's head. Natsu sighed, not releasing her hand. "Listen, Lucy. Right now, me being a Spirit is pretty much the best weapon we have against Laxus's plan. Even with Levy on our side, no one can move around the city as freely as I can. How are we going to catch the Raijinshuu by surprise without me?" His laugh was strangely joyous. "So don't go trying to send me back to the Spirit World or whatever until I'm done here, you got that?"

"But Natsu, you- you're dying-"

"I'm not dead yet, am I?" he demanded. That death-defying grin. That desire to win that surpassed even his human instinct to live. "Don't give up on me already, and don't ever underestimate a Dragon Slayer!"

"You're _not_ a Dragon Slayer any more!"

"I'm a Spirit-Dragon Slayer," Natsu grinned. "I'll race you to Warren! Catch me if you can!" Then he was tearing off down the road as quickly as his feet could carry him.

"Natsu…" Lucy whispered, surprised to find that there was a lump in her throat. "He's…"

"I knew he was an idiot, but this recklessness is on a whole new level!" Loke declared, slamming his fist into the ground. "His life is far more important than this stupid fight! We've got to-"

He jumped to his feet, ready to run after his friend – only to freeze in place at the sight of a wall of runes rising up in front of them. His eyes widened. "No! Not _now!_ "

"This barrier wasn't there earlier, or we'd have noticed it," Lucy assessed. "Which means-"

"Yo!" a voice called out from behind them. "I finally caught up with you!"

The two of them wheeled around to see a strange man in a somewhat unique outfit standing at the far end of the street, just in front of another purple barrier. Five little totems floated around his head. Loke balled his fists; Lucy, not recognizing the man but finding him pretty creepy anyway, also went on the offensive, pulling out her whip with one hand and resting the other atop her keys. Sure enough, an extra line of writing soon detached itself from the barriers, spelling out words they could all read: _Bickslow vs. Lucy_.

"Bickslow!" Loke snarled, almost beside himself with frustration. This was the last thing that they needed right now.

"Long time no see, Loke. You seem to be in a bit of a tricky situation – even more so than usual, that is."

"Wait, how does he know it's you and not Natsu?" Lucy muttered to Loke.

Loke's narrowed eyes didn't leave their opponent for a second. "Bickslow's Figure Eyes let him see people's souls."

"Then… did he maybe know you were a Spirit already?"

"Yeah; what of it?"

"If we explain to him what's going on, he might understand-"

"Lucy," Loke cut across her firmly. "He's one of the Raijinshuu. They're at war with Fairy Tail. After what they've already done, there can be no rational discussion."

Unaware of their quiet conversation, Bickslow added, "And you must be Lucy! I've heard a lot about you." He eyed her whip, stretched taut between her pale hands, and remarked, "You're certainly living up to your reputation as a cosplaying dominatrix-"

"As a _what?_ " Lucy practically screamed.

"Cosplay!" echoed one of Bickslow's dolls.

"Dominatrix!" repeated another.

"Yes, I heard you the first time!" Lucy yelled back, waving her arms desperately as if that would somehow get them to stop talking.

"The rumours didn't say anything about your abilities, though. Shall we see if you're strong enough to be a part of the new Fairy Tail?"

 _You're a part of Fairy Tail_ , Gray had promised her. _Nothing will change that_. When did strength start having anything to do with being in their family? There was already a golden key glittering in Lucy's hand when Loke stepped in front of her.

"Lucy, use Horologium and go."

"I want to-" And she stopped suddenly. What had she been about to say? That she wanted to fight? How could she even think of such a thing, with Natsu in his condition? She switched the golden key for Horologium's silver one; Loke gave her an approving nod.

"Find Natsu. Do what you have to do to save him. I'll keep Bickslow here behind the barrier for as long as I can."

Lucy turned to the barrier, raising Horologium's key, and then she hesitated. "As soon as I leave, these barriers will fall-"

"I know. I'll do my best. Lucy, go already!"

Loke felt a shiver run through him as Lucy opened the Gate to the Spirit World. He tried not to think about the fate that awaited him, forcing his attention towards his opponent instead. Bickslow was being remarkably chivalrous by not attempting to stop Lucy from leaving. Maybe he was confident this fight would be over quickly.

Indeed, Bickslow sounded surprised by the turn of events. "You're going to fight me, Loke? You've never won before, and that was when I could actually sense a decent level of magic coming from you."

"I don't need to win," Loke told him grimly. The barriers dissolved into their constituent runes and dispersed on the wind, but he did not budge, firmly planted in the middle of the road between Bickslow and the retreating magical clock. "There are more important things than victory, and my friend's life is one of them. I only need to buy them some time."

All his grief and frustration and guilt and despair turned to anger within him. Fire blazed into life around Loke's wrists. Flames of emotion; the power of a Dragon Slayer. When he felt this strongly, how could Natsu's magic not respond? His voice was a desperate shriek. "Come at me, Bickslow!"

* * *

It was too early for the sun to be setting. That was the only thought in Natsu's mind. Well, that and the need to keep putting one foot in front of the other. But as if that wasn't difficult enough as it was, the sun also seemed to have vanished from the world.

It was supposed to be early afternoon, he was sure of it. Only this morning, they had checked out of the resort in Balsam Village and returned to Magnolia on the train. That had only been a few hours ago. This darkness was in his mind.

He raised a hand in front of his face, gritting his teeth at the effort. His pupils were fully dilated, straining in their attempt to draw all the last light of the world towards him. His hand almost existed. He could see the blur of its movement, the changing shades of grey in the colourless world as it passed, at least. He carried on moving: eyes forced as wide as they would go, trying to pierce the darkness; arms raised in front of him, to help him force his way through the thick miasma pushing against him. Fight back, against this world trying to end. Just for a little longer.

A barrier of runes flared up in front of him, and he passed through it as if it were nothing. An idea came to him. The cathedral was still several streets away, but who said he had to take the long way round? He veered from his path and ran without fear towards the row of houses. As he had predicted, he walked through the solid stone walls with no problem at all, and made it out into the street beyond. He knew holding on to this ability had been the right call. Now, he just had to keep it together for a little longer-

"Warren!"

"Natsu?" He sensed more than saw the older man run over to him. "What's going on? What's happening to you?"

"There's no time." A quick glance around the town square they were in showed that they were safe from enemy eyes for now, but it was only a matter of time. "Get to the hospital – the inpatient facility for mages. You know it, right?"

"Sure, but-"

"Erza's there. Get to her. Please."

"What about you?"

"Don't worry about me. Go to Erza. Now!"

Casting one nervous glance at the Dragon Slayer's state, Warren gave a nod and began running in the direction Natsu had indicated. Natsu gave a small smile. "See, Lucy? I did it. I did-"

And he fell without a sound. The world suddenly pitched on its side. His body, what there was left of it, struck the ground with all the impact of a spring breeze. The crack of the world that he could see through mostly-shut eyelids grew darker and darker until there was nothing left out there for him to reach for – nothing except the endless night.

"I'm sorry, Lucy," he whispered, because he could no longer fight it. "I'm sorry…"

* * *

"We've got a problem," said Levy.

No one wanted to be the one to ask. Fortunately, Erza was on hand to take control of the situation. "Levy, what's going on?"

The girl glanced over the screen once more, as if making sure of what she was seeing before looking at Erza. The cat was stood on the end of the bed, her hands on her hips, waiting.

Levy wet her lips. "It's Laxus. He's on his way here."

"Are you certain?" Erza checked, her eyes flashing. Levy nodded; she wouldn't have spoken up otherwise.

That was good enough for Erza; Jet and Droy weren't so sure. "How do you know?" asked one of them. "I thought you said you couldn't see the Raijinshuu."

"I can't see their exact locations. But, look." She pointed towards the list of ongoing fights. They were growing accustomed to how this worked by now; it only took a moment or two for them to see what she was getting it. _Laxus vs. Max_. It was a one-sided fight if they had ever seen one, and that wasn't even the worst thing about the revelation. "I've been keeping a close eye on the list of ongoing battles, and it's the first time Laxus has appeared. He's on the move."

Her shoulders sagged. "No, more than that. I imagine – well, I don't know for sure, but given how well Freed has set this whole thing up, I'd be very surprised if I'm wrong – Freed probably has an external communication system set up for him and Laxus that I can't get access to from here. The fact that I have some control over this system is a problem for Laxus, because it's the only way that we can resist having to play his game of fighting each other. If Freed told him about it, Laxus must have guessed that we're still in the hospital and is on his way here, to deal with me."

She said it so matter-of-factly. Levy, Erza, Mira – all three of them had embraced their roles in this new kind of warfare so easily, it was almost alarming. It was up to Droy to be the voice of reason. "Hang on a minute," he tried. Three intense pairs of eyes immediately turned to him. "We're in a _hospital_. Surely even Laxus wouldn't attack us here."

Mira only shook her head. "I don't think the Raijinshuu would. But Laxus… he would do anything to win this game. You didn't see him earlier, when he announced the start of the Battle of Fairy Tail. He was…"

"Angry?" asked Jet.

"Aggressive? Brutal?" Droy tried.

"No, nothing like that. He was… serious. He intends to see this through, whatever the cost may be. He is determined to change the guild no matter what - and that gives him conviction in the face of everything that has happened. Nothing else could push him to the limits he has already broken. Threatening the guild. Forcing us to fight our friends all across the city we spend our lives helping and protecting. Tearing apart our bonds like they're nothing in order to break us from within. After all that, he's not going to stop just because a few of us have taken refuge in a public building-"

She was stopped mid-sentence by the sound of smashing glass. Battle-ready, they all span towards the windows, but there was no sign of any enemies there; belatedly, Mira remembered the person they had all forgotten about. For there was someone else in the room; someone who had been asleep earlier, and whom they had all prayed would remain so until this entire crazy day had come to an end.

But at some point that hope had been dashed. Makarov was awake. How long he had been so they did not know, but it was long enough for him to have heard everything she had just said. Still in Mira's body, he was sat up in the bed, hunched over and shaking. Water streamed freely from his right hand, intermingled with drops of blood. He appeared not to notice the shards of glass scattered atop the soaked sheets on his lap. His injured hand twitched. His eyes were wide, and seemed to shake in their sockets, with horror and disgust and an uncontrollable rage.

Between sharply indrawn breaths, he managed to choke out four words, each one carrying an entire world of barely-suppressed emotion: "Laxus has done _what?_ "

"Master!" Mira cried out, forgetting in her worry that she couldn't even say that any more. "Your hand! Let me-"

Makarov slammed his fist against the wall. "That boy… that boy has…" Words failed him. There were only actions left. He swung his legs off the bed and pushed himself to his feet.

Alarmed, Mira started forwards. "Master! What are you doing?"

"I'm going to teach that fool a lesson!" Makarov snarled.

For a moment, Mira flinched backwards. She had never seen the former Master as furious as this, not during the entire Phantom Lord incident, nor even when Natsu and Lucy had gone on that S-Class Quest without his permission. An instant of seeing her beloved Master like that, pushed to the edge by the actions of his own grandson, snapped all her own feelings into place in an instant.

There was one thing Mira understood above all else. If Makarov went out there and confronted Laxus with that hatred in his heart, there was only one way that this day would end: in anger and bitter bloodshed. And that outcome was one she would do anything to avoid, even if it meant talking back to the man she trusted and respected above all others.

"No, you're not," Mira told him, and her voice was quiet but firm.

"How dare he do this to the guild?" Makarov continued. He hadn't registered the content of Mira's words; it didn't occur to him for a moment that anyone would object to his righteous course of action. "How _dare_ he? Does he understand _nothing?_ "

"Master, please get back in the bed," Mira repeated, but he ignored her, brushing it off as merely a concern for his health. She insisted, "You can't go out there right now! You'll ruin everything we've been working towards!"

Finally getting the message, Makarov glanced at Mira in amazement for a moment or two before his eyes narrowed and his anger returned. "That brat is going to pay for what he's done to my guild."

Mira and Erza exchanged glances. For once, the two girls were in perfect agreement about what had to be done. But where Mira was bound by politeness, Erza had adapted to her role as the guild's leader in this fight with ease. Makarov took two steps towards the doorway to find the little cat stood in his way, glowering at him with enough force to stop him in his tracks.

"Master, sit down and shut up," Erza snapped. "Mira is right. If you go out there now, you'll be in danger – and you'll only make things worse."

As he stared at her in utter astonishment, not quite comprehending that these girls were determined to stop him, Mira seized the chance to add to Erza's argument. "I know it's hard for you not to take all this personally," she began, "But this isn't a family affair. It's a battle between Laxus and the entire of the guild."

"You're not the only one who wants to knock some sense into him," Levy supplemented, picking up on the importance of the situation with impressive acuity. She gave a faint smile. "You'll have to get in line."

"This is Fairy Tail's problem," Mira said. "Don't try taking responsibility, Master, because it is for all of us to deal with. Laxus is threatening the guild, so it's the guild that has to stop him. You have to remain here, for the time being. Please, Master. There's nothing you can do right now. Please."

Erza, Mira and Levy – the three champions of Fairy Tail who had stepped forward to take charge against this new threat – had the situation under control. Even on a good day, Makarov knew better than to mess with his guild's own warrior women. Though he was still shaking with rage, under Erza's watchful eye, he slowly returned to the bed.

Satisfied, Erza turned back to Levy, who had uncapped her pen once more and resumed her scribbling onto the air as soon as the crisis had been averted. "Levy. Can you stall Laxus with barriers?"

The girl frowned. "I'm trying, but… I can't figure them out. Suppressing them is one thing, but creating barriers where there were none before is another matter entirely. The system just rejects them… a double shift, or maybe it's a triple I need? A three-place shift, and take the opposite meaning when that counter is active…" As if she realized she was drifting off into a world where the others couldn't follow her, she gave her head a quick shake to clear it. "I might be able to figure it out, but I need more time," she told Erza simply.

"Then we'll get you more time." The cat surveyed the people in the room, assessing the options open to her. "We need someone to divert Laxus's attention. Someone he will stay and fight, even if it prevents him from achieving his goal of stopping us. The best person to do that, to act as a lightning rod… is Gajeel."

"Huh? Me?"

"Yes, you. Got any problems with that?"

"Yeah, actually. It's not like I really care what's going on with your guild-"

That was the moment Levy chose to jump down from the bed, run across the room, and slap Gajeel.

"W-What…?" he retorted weakly, unable to even form a proper reply in his shock.

Though the Dragon Slayer stood a good head and shoulders above her, like a lion towering over a cat, Levy put her hands on her hips and glared up at him defiantly. "What's with that lacklustre attitude?" she demanded. "I'm disappointed in you! When you attacked me for the sake of your last guild, you didn't hold back one bit. You didn't have a problem acting with conviction then."

"Well, that's…" he mumbled.

"Are you really a man who does things so half-heartedly? Your old guild fell apart, so now you're too afraid to commit to anything? I said I'd forgive you for what you did, but that was conditional on you also putting the past behind you and giving your all for Fairy Tail going forwards! If you can't do that, then leave right now and go join some other guild that's better suited to this pathetic man you've become!"

Gajeel stared down at her, completely lost for words.

"Whoa…" Jet murmured, while Droy was seen to wipe a tear away from his eye.

Then the moment was ruined as the great screen of runes, left without anyone in control of its magic, switched from purple to red and began flashing a warning. Levy let out a startled shout and dashed back over to it, brandishing her pen towards it like a magic wand. "No no no no! Don't die on me, not now!"

As she struggled to get the system back under control, Erza asked of Gajeel, "So, what do you say?"

The Dragon Slayer was still staring at Levy, even as he placed his fist against the palm of his hand. "I suppose I do have unfinished business with this Laxus of yours. It's payback time, for that fight in our guildhall."

"Good. We're counting on you. Oh, and Gajeel – we need you to hold him off for as long as possible, so don't do anything reckless and risk losing too quickly. Try to conserve your magic power-"

"Hey, cat," Gajeel told her, rude in his defiance. "Don't tell me how to use my magic. I'm not going to hold him off – I'm gonna beat him, you got that?"

From the other side of the room, Levy gave him a winning smile, waving him off. "I'll cover you from here, as soon as I've got the hang of these barriers!"

"I don't need your help, shrimp!" he retorted.

"Good!" And she grinned happily to herself as he ran out of the door. Mira was also nodding in satisfaction, and Erza had a smug grin on her face.

Watching from the sidelines, Makarov shuddered. It had definitely been the right decision not to mess with the women of Fairy Tail.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** So not a great deal actually happened this chapter, in terms of events actually taking place. It happens. At least that's all the setup done for this arc. With Erza in charge of the guild, Levy in control of the rune system, and Warren on his way back to join them, the Battle of Fairy Tail (as Laxus wants it to be played) is as good as over, and they can begin to take steps towards fighting back. Next chapter heads away from the centre of command to resolve the Natsu/Loke storyline, and once that distraction is out of the way, it's a clear run through to the end of the arc. As always, thanks for reading! ~CS_


	13. The Price of Every Sin

_**A/N:** Chapter thirteen, and my interpretation of a certain canon event, inspired in part by the late eighteenth/early nineteenth century revolution in geohistory. Because why not? ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Thirteen: The Price of Every Sin**

"NATSU!"

That scream tore itself unbidden from Lucy's throat. The thought that there may have been enemies nearby didn't even cross her mind as she sprinted across the empty plaza, towards the incorporeal form of her friend.

Lifeless; colourless – Natsu lay slumped on the ground at the foot of the fountain. He didn't respond to her voice. He was so still… but he couldn't be dead. He _couldn't_ be. This was Natsu she was looking at. Lively, wild, irrepressible Natsu, who had fought one of Zeref's demons without even flinching; who had burst in on a meeting of the Magic Council to protect Erza; who had been so excited about destroying the moon-! When he made the decision to fight, there was no force on earth that could stop him… right?

Natsu wouldn't die so easily. Not like this, in a place where no one could even see. She wouldn't allow it.

"Loke!" Lucy yelled, not even noticing the grief that cracked her own voice. "I'm going to do it, Loke! I'm sorry, but I have to try!"

There was no answer. Of course there wasn't. Loke was busy fighting one of his friends to buy her time. He couldn't tell her what to do. The decision was all hers.

Well. Lucy wasn't about to let Natsu slip away while she was being indecisive.

She couldn't touch Natsu. Her hand passed straight through his ghostly form. Yet if she concentrated with all her might, she could feel his magical presence at the edge of her senses. Weak, and fading by the minute, it was a confused synthesis of the familiar and the alien, unsure of whether it was supposed to be the magic of a Dragon Slayer, or a Celestial Spirit, or something else entirely. Lucy latched onto that sense, all that remained of Natsu in this world, like a lifeline.

Kneeling down beside what remained of her friend's body, Lucy placed her hand over the spot where Natsu's hand was, taking strength from the pink Fairy Tail mark visible through the shimmer of Natsu's transparent fingers. She had no key, no contract, and no Spirit to summon, but she knew exactly what she had to do.

"Gate of the Lion, I open thee!"

Lucy was half-expecting nothing to happen, but she was prepared for the worst, and she got it. The sudden drain on her magic power struck her like a physical blow. If she hadn't already been kneeling she would have fallen; as it was, the world swam before her eyes, with Magnolia all of a sudden as curious and translucent as Natsu was. All the energy was being drained from her muscles – not just in her shaking arms, or the new difficulty of holding her head up, but in the way her lungs suddenly fought against the effort of inflating.

Panic seized her. She couldn't breathe. Her chest was burning. And still it didn't stop, that magic power streaming out of her, carrying her life with it. This was why Loke had tried to stop her, wasn't it? She had committed her magic to an impossible task – trying to open a Gate that had been sealed forever shut – and now she couldn't stop it. It wouldn't end until either the Gate opened or she ran out of energy and died.

But this wasn't for her – it was for the friend who had helped her countless times over. This was her chance to repay the favour. She could not give up.

"Gate of the Lion!" she yelled, barely audible above the roaring of another world's wind in her ears. "I open-"

There was no longer any breath left in her to carry her shout. She mouthed the last word, lungs screaming, throat raw, the feeling of pain spreading through her body like wildfire. Her own magic, gone far beyond her control, was tearing her up from the inside. This was the price of her transgression. Endless suffering and a quick death; she and Natsu together in this empty place.

"OPEN!" she shrieked.

"Open, damn it!"

At first, Lucy thought that the other voice belonged to Natsu. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder, and a sensation of tranquillity broke through the phantasmal flames engulfing her body. She was acutely aware of the other's presence as his mismatch of magic power mingled with her own, lessening the drain on her body and forcing back some of the pain.

Loke. What was he doing here? How had he escaped from Bickslow? It was not the time nor the place to be answering such questions, and they both knew it. With the voice of the lion, he roared the word that Lucy no longer could, with enough ferocity for both of them: " _OPEN!_ "

And then, just like that, everything ended.

The world, once full of colour and life, turned suddenly black. Except it wasn't the black of death, because she could still feel Loke's hand on her shoulder; the single tenuous link between her and reality. Nor was it the black of the void, because she could see stars. There they were, turning above them in the darkness, tiny little points of light from a million worlds away. And as Lucy slowly breathed in and out and in again, and her eyes adjusted to the change in conditions, and _still_ she wasn't dead, she realized that it wasn't the world that had ended, but the day.

The sun had been whisked away from them, and the moon hidden, and even the lights of the city around them stolen, and only when the world had fully embraced the night did the true beauty of the stars appear. Lucy had never before seen them so close or so bright. There were constellations she knew and still more that she didn't, unimaginably distant stars that had never been visible to her until the darkness came upon the earth. This was a place beyond time. In this serene and beautiful world, her pain was locked away; her imminent death was infinitely suspended.

In that night there was an apparition, and that apparition had a voice. It was a voice reverberating with the weight of years, born of that moment when mankind had gazed up into the sky for the very first time and felt that sense of wonder, back when the night was as dark and as pure as it was right now. It was a voice of wisdom and of authority; of endless time and infinite space.

"Leo the Lion… my old companion… my old friend…"

Before the two of them stood a giant of starlight. Atop his horned helmet sat a great gold five-pointed star, a symbol of kingship. His enormous figure was covered in shining ethereal armour. Yet he didn't look like a warrior, but rather a veteran: one who wore his armour as a reminder of the grave memories he carried with him from darker times. Beneath his enormous moustache, his mouth was set in a solemn line. It was with sorrow in his eyes that he looked down at the two of them.

"Why have you returned?" asked the Spirit King.

"I-" Loke said, only to falter. His grip on Lucy's shoulder grew a little tighter.

"You know your crime. No matter how many long nights pass, time shall never undo the sin you have committed… Leo the Lion, by your own hands your Master lies dead. You are exiled to the human world until the stars no longer shine, so I shall ask you once again: why have you returned?"

"Because… because I need your help…"

"You know I cannot help you. Yet even fully aware of that, you would burn up the life force of another Master to stand before me again… Leo, have you learned nothing?"

"Hey!" Lucy slammed her fist against the ground. "How dare you talk like that? What do you know about what's going on? Loke didn't come here to beg you for forgiveness, but to fight for the life of his friend! And I'm here of my own free will! I'm fighting too! So don't you dare claim to judge us when you don't even know what's going on!"

Loke turned to her, his eyes wide with fear. "Lucy, don't-"

Lucy ignored him. "Look at him!" she yelled, waving her arm at Loke, trying to indicate in that gesture the bright pink hair; the long, open coat and sandals hardly befitting a trendy ladies' man; Igneel's precious scarf. "Does he look like the Leo you know? For three years, he has suffered in my world without complaint – he wouldn't try to come back now unless something was very, very wrong! So why don't you shut up and listen to what he has to say, rather than just assuming you know best?"

In a slow, ponderous motion, the celestial giant folded his arms. "Very well," he boomed; the burden of his gaze fell upon Loke. "Explain yourself, Leo."

Loke took a deep breath. He was trembling, but after Lucy's fearless outburst, he refused to be the one who let the side down. "My Gate has been shut for three years. You know that. Just recently, I reached my limit for staying in the human world. I'd known it was coming for a while, so when my physical form began to fall apart, it wasn't a surprise… But during that time I'd joined a guild, a wonderful guild, where all sorts of crazy things happen all the time - and just over a week ago, one of these extraordinary everyday events changed the lives of everyone in the guild. It was ancient magic, a curse called Changeling, which switched the bodies of those present when it activated. That's why I'm here before you in the body of Natsu the Dragon Slayer… that's why I've come back.

"Because, right now, I'm just an ordinary human. And also right now, through no fault of his own, my friend Natsu is on the verge of dying as a Celestial Spirit! He's dying because of my punishment, and it isn't fair! So, please! This isn't to do with me – this is about saving Natsu! I don't care what you do with me, but open the Gate and let him live, please!"

"The Gate of the Lion can never be re-opened," spoke the King.

"This is madness!" Lucy exclaimed. "You're punishing the wrong person!"

"That is… an unfortunate accident. The law, however, is absolute."

"How can you say that? How _dare_ you?"

"Lucy, don't, please," Loke begged. The Spirit King's gaze became thunderous, yet under that expression, Lucy found the strength to stand up.

"You found Loke guilty of killing Karen, and yet he played no role in her death. But you-! You're stood there right now, actively causing Natsu to die with your stupid rules and your refusal to admit that you're wrong – you are guilty of far worse than Loke is! You have no right to judge him so hypocritically! No right at all!"

"Lucy, he is my King," Loke told her quietly. "That is all the right he needs."

"I won't accept that! Earlier, you called Loke your old friend – does that mean nothing to you? A man with no compassion in his heart has no right to rule over others! You're no King – just a giant man with a moustache!"

The giant looked down at Lucy, and Lucy glared right back, standing shoulder to shoulder with her friend. To her surprise, the King seemed to sigh. "Leo," he said, in a voice that shook the earth. "It is not within my power to undo the affliction that binds you and your friend."

"I know," came Loke's steady reply. "But you can save him. You can do what you want with me, just open the Gate of the Lion and let Natsu live."

"It will not change the fact that he is now a Celestial Spirit. Your death will not undo that curse on him. With an open Gate, he can learn to live in the human world without fading away, but he will never again be human."

"Yeah. But I believe in Fairy Tail. As long as he keeps living, they'll find a way to get his old body back. If I've learnt anything over the past three years of exile, it's to never underestimate the determination of humans."

The Spirit King bowed his great head. "Very well. I shall open the Gate, and your friend will live. But the law must be upheld. Leo, my old friend, you must come with me and face your final judgement."

Loke nodded. "I will. Thank you."

The stars above them began to fade; the murmurings of life broke through the serene silence of the world of night. Lucy jumped up in alarm. "Wait a minute! Loke! You're going to-"

The friend whom she had only just got to know glanced at her over his shoulder and smiled. "I'm sorry, Lucy, but this was never about me. It was my sin. I am happy to die for it, if it means that Natsu will survive."

The rush of noise cut off anything else he might have said. The light of the sun as it returned to the sky was blinding. Lucy fought it. Forcing her eyes open, she gazed into that celestial light, and for the first time, she saw the Gate as the Spirits saw it. It wasn't just a metaphorical construction, but an actual, literal Gate; a doorway made of golden light, shaped by unearthly hands, as elaborate and flawless as the keys she held. Atop it stood two golden lions, facing away from each other, tall and regal and proud and victorious as they roared their final challenge across the Spirit World.

"Lucy…" came a voice from beside her. "What's going on? Loke…?"

Natsu was stirring. His hand closed around her arm; he looked up at her in askance. She felt tears spring to her eyes. No words came.

Through the open Gate, she saw the giant King walking away. Loke raised his hand to her in acknowledgement. She could see his mouth forming words, but he was in a different world now; she could no longer hear him. He might have been saying farewell. He might have been apologizing one last time.

"Loke!" she screamed.

"Loke?" echoed Natsu, quietly.

What she could see clearly was Loke's sad smile, and that told her everything she needed to know. Then he turned around and passed through the Gate of the Lion.

The light was too bright. The pain of it brought tears to her eyes. She could no longer look, but the final image of a silhouette running through that horrible, holy light remained imprinted on the back of her eyelids.

The Gate closed; the light vanished; Lucy was once more in the real world. She fell to her knees, her eyes still shut. She wanted to scream and cry and somehow convey to the world the flurry of emotions raging through her. They had saved Natsu, but lost Loke. It wasn't fair. After everything they had been through together, their determination had simply been insufficient to overcome all the injustice of the world.

But what would Loke say if he could see her now? Sitting there in mourning, when there could be enemies around every corner; when the guild was still at war; when there were other allies out there she could be helping rather than letting the grief overcome her – wouldn't he be disappointed?

Even so, it all seemed pointless now. This stupid game between Laxus and the others; what did ruling the guild mean when people were _dying?_

Fairy Tail, a wonderful guild. Loke had said that. And now that he could no longer fight to protect it, someone else had to in his place. Didn't she feel the same? He wouldn't forgive her, if she stood by and watched as their beloved guild was destroyed.

Then it was settled. She would fight for Loke, and for everyone left behind. Her tears could wait. For now, she had to bring Natsu back to Erza and-

Natsu.

She had thought it was too quiet in the plaza. Where the hell was Natsu? He had definitely been here earlier: she had heard his voice and felt the touch of his hand, real once more. And she didn't believe for a second that he would have abandoned her just like that while she was upset. So that meant…

Natsu, that reckless _idiot_. He'd chased Loke into the Spirit World, hadn't he?

* * *

Gajeel was a man with something to prove. Not to Fairy Tail, of course. As far as he was concerned, the fact that he had even agreed to go out here for the sake of a guild he bore no allegiance to was more than enough evidence of his loyalty.

No, he had something to prove to himself. Being bested by – he couldn't stand the phrase _losing to_ – a bunch of enemies with hardly any magic power between them was not something he was proud of, especially since he had let them trap him, thus leaving him helpless to watch from afar as his whole guild was wiped out. And that was not to mention being bossed around by the Fairy Tail girls. First Lucy, then Erza, and then that shrimp of a girl Levy as well… just thinking about it brought an angry grimace to his face. What sort of Dragon Slayer let himself be pushed around like that?

That was the thing about Fairy Tail, though. That guild had conviction in spades. Apart from his old Master, and the Element 4 whose powers had rivalled his own, hardly anyone back at Phantom Lord had dared to speak to him. They were scared of him, and rightfully so. He had no use for weaklings. Only Master Jose had ever ordered Gajeel around, and Gajeel had respected him enough to follow those orders.

Then he had come here, and the situation had completely reversed. If there had once been a power hierarchy in Fairy Tail then it had fallen apart the minute this civil war had begun. Or maybe earlier than that, going by what the others had been saying – maybe anarchy had always been a part of this guild, only emphasized by the Changeling affair.

Either way, things were different here. It was one thing Fairy Tail's legendary Titania giving orders to him like he was one of them, but the shrimp was another matter entirely. Standing up to him like that – after what he had done to her – took more bravery than had been held by everyone in his former guild put together. And she hadn't even hesitated for a moment. Despite himself, he couldn't help feeling admiration.

And speaking of the shrimp, her prediction of Laxus's location using the battles he was fighting had been spot-on. He had found the man exactly where she had said he would be, engaged in battle with some older mage he didn't know who fought with purple fire. From his vantage point atop the roof of a building a couple of streets away, he could see them clearly. The older man didn't stand a chance. That being said, though, he was fighting craftily, running and hiding and making himself difficult to hit in order to prolong the fight. Perhaps the message of stalling Laxus for as long as possible had somehow got through to him.

Laxus himself was putting on a good show. Between the display going on in the street below him and their brief confrontation in Phantom Lord's guildhall, Gajeel thought he had the lightning mage's basic magic patterns down. This would be a true test of his power as a Dragon Slayer.

"I suppose it's time for me to intervene," he muttered, as a particularly powerful lightning attack tore through the older man's defences. Unsatisfied with merely throwing his opponent back, Laxus advanced, preparing a finishing blow. Gajeel ran across the rooftops with ease. At the end of the street he flung himself straight off the edge and freely fell three storeys, striking the ground between the two combatants with an impact that split the paving stones beneath him.

He was just in time to intercept the bolt of lightning. Though powerful enough to put a defeated opponent out of the game permanently, to a Dragon Slayer at full strength it barely tickled. Gajeel smiled as the last shivers of lightning faded into his body. The iron scales that had reinforced his legs against the fall damage disappeared to allow him full manoeuvrability.

Laxus did not look pleased to see him. With narrowed eyes, he slowly lowered his outstretched hand. "What do _you_ want?" In his derisive tone, even that neutral phrase could become an insult.

Not that Gajeel paid attention to insults, when he was all fired up and ready to fight. "I've got a score to settle with you."

"It's over. I already destroyed your guild."

"I ain't talking about Phantom Lord," Gajeel grinned. "This is personal. Payback for when you interfered with my fight back in my old guildhall."

"Not interested. I'm busy here. Know when you've been defeated, and crawl back home."

"Can't do that. I'd get another lecture from the shrimp if I gave up now and let you through."

The two of them eyed each other, nothing but hostility passing between them.

Laxus said, "Turn around now, and I'll let you leave Magnolia in one piece. This is between me and Fairy Tail. It's none of your business."

"That's what _I_ said!" Gajeel exclaimed. "But the thing is, so many people have told me otherwise already today that I've actually started to believe them. Looks like I am joining Fairy Tail, whether I like it or not."

At this, Laxus gave an outright laugh. "You think I'd let Phantom Lord trash like you join my guild?" he sneered.

"The way I see it," replied Gajeel coolly, "Once you've gone through with this crazy plan of yours, members of Fairy Tail are going to be in short supply. I thought you'd be jumping at the prospect to gain another strong mage."

"Strong? Don't make me laugh."

Gajeel couldn't help grinning at this. "So, basically, if I beat you then you'll let me into the guild? Sounds like a good deal to me."

Laxus growled in irritation. The Dragon Slayer had some nerve, presuming himself a member of his guild and interfering with his plans. To make matters worse, he was stood firmly in the middle of the road, with no intention of letting Laxus through. He could try going over the houses and into the next street, but the other would probably pursue him. His previous opponent had taken advantage of the confusion caused by Gajeel's arrival to slip away. It looked like he didn't have a choice – he was going to have to fight.

Fine. He was hardly averse to the idea. Wasting time fighting someone who wasn't from Fairy Tail was an annoyance, but someone had to put Phantom Lord's mage in his place.

"Come on, then. I'll crush you first, and then deal with the guild."

"Gehehe. I was hoping you'd say that."

* * *

Loke had forgotten just how beautiful his home world was. Three years was a long time to be away. That time had changed nothing in this harmonious place between dimensions, but it had dulled his memory of it more than he had realized.

During his exile, he had come to understand the human world. It was a fragile place. Unlike here, where ten thousand years could pass without notice, the world of mortals was defined by its finiteness. To protect that fleeting thing called life in a world without eternity, balance was of tantamount importance. Cycles of existence. Erosion and deposition. Death and renewal. Extinction and evolution. Those who sought to harm, and those who sought to protect. Disasters, and the resolve to stand against them; catastrophes, and the willingness of the earth to adapt and move on.

The Celestial Spirit World was one without risk. Left alone, it would always continue to be; its denizens would watch over the mortal world until the last of the stars in the firmament above had ceased to shine. The human world was the opposite. Through chance or design, it rested in the most perilous of positions, finely-tuned to stand atop the single peak that could support life. One accident, one tiny little mistake, one person with enough ill-will or one dangerous random mutation in the cycle of evolution, and it would fall, spiralling downhill towards degeneration and death. Every day of its existence was a miracle.

And yet humans couldn't see that. They took for granted everything around them. The sun rose every day and they thought nothing of it, never noticing how the existence of every moment depended on the perfect coincidence of more things than they could possibly imagine. The thought that their world might one day cease to be never even crossed their minds as they lived on. Perhaps only those who were immortal worried about mortality.

That sort of world had its own kind of charm, and the longer he had stayed there, the more Loke had come to understand it. It was one thing catching glimpses of the changing world as he was infrequently summoned over the centuries, but being forced to live there permanently was an entirely different matter. It required a different mindset. There was no need to concern himself with the fragility of the world around him and his existence within it. If something steps out of line and the entire world falls apart tomorrow, oh well. Assume that's not going to happen, and get on with whatever it is you want to do. Live each day for its own sake.

That's what he had done in the end, as the power sustaining his physical body in that world had slowly dried up. He had taken things one day at a time. He had made friends even though he knew he would one day have to leave them behind. He had found a place that would accept him without questioning his past or his nature, where he could spend the rest of his days.

Being part of a changing world had caused him to change too. When his own existence had become finite, he thought he had finally understood what drove the people of that world to be so reckless; to live life for themselves alone. And he had forgotten what it meant to live in the Celestial Spirit World.

He had thought he would never see this world again, and yet here he was. It was ironic that he had survived the exile in the world of mortals that was supposed to result in his death, and now his punishment would be carried out with finality in this place without time. Not that the place of his execution changed anything. If not for Changeling, he would have died back in that world at the time that Natsu had collapsed.

His time was up. He understood what that meant, now. The world would go on without him, just like it had learned to do for all its short-lived inhabitants. And yet, if Natsu could go on living for it, then he could be content. The time given back to his friend was just another fleeting moment in the vast history of the human world, but he understood how precious those moments were to those who were mortal; to those for whom every single day defied the odds.

And getting to see this place, his home, one final time – it made everything complete.

Space was different here. Loke should have had to run to keep up with the giant King, but his ordinary-sized steps could somehow maintain pace just fine. He knew where they were going – what awaited him at the end of this path.

His sin was one which warranted the punishment of death. A violation of that would make a mockery of the laws which had governed and protected this world since time immemorial. When the fate given to him was that of exile, it was not a lessening of that punishment out of kindness. Exile for a Spirit was a long-winded method of execution, but one that was just as certain in its conclusion as an axe in the hands of a black-hooded stranger. It was indeed a reprieve, but not for Loke. It was so the King, who was an old friend of his, and would have been responsible for wielding that executioner's axe, could uphold the law without having to deal the finishing blow with his own two hands.

Loke had accepted that. It was his sin to carry, after all. Only, that easy way out was no longer possible, as Natsu would be the one to die. His execution would have to take place in a more mundane manner. Then, once Loke's punishment had been carried out once and for all, and the law protected, the Gate of the Lion could be re-opened, allowing Natsu to go on living. Nothing more and nothing less; that was what he would find at their destination, the termination of the only path in this world with an end.

The road they walked along would have been out of place in the human world, as it was hanging in the air of its own volition. The flat stones it was made of shone like pearls in the perpetual night. The ground here was not flat, but its paths stretched between tiny planets, looping and curling all across the curves of the spheres. Above and below, the sky was a rich deep blue, but it was not at all dark – not here, amongst the stars. Breath-taking spiral galaxies, each composed of countless flickering suns, so close that all their grandeur was visible to the naked eye, ensured the brightness of the heavens shone out in every direction, as if the air itself was starlight.

Yes. This was where he wanted to die. This was his home, and he had missed its serenity, its eternity, and its harmony. It was truly beau-

"Whoa, this place is awesome!"

Loke did a double-take. Slowly, and with great dread, he turned his head to confirm who had so crudely spoken the thoughts in his head. That was Natsu, alright. He might be in a different body right now, but that was definitely Natsu, able to find wonder at the most inopportune times.

"Natsu, what are you _doing_ here?" he demanded, in an accidental half-shriek that probably alerted half the denizens of this celestial world to his presence.

Natsu grinned. "I'm here to bring you home," he replied, completely unaware of the gravity of the situation. Or perhaps he was aware, and was just choosing to ignore it, as was his way with authority.

"Natsu, I'm not going home. Go back to Lucy."

"Yeah, about that… I have no idea how to do that. I just ran through the Gate, and now it's kind of vanished."

"Natsu!" Loke shouted, exasperation getting the better of him.

"But that's irrelevant anyway, because I'm not going back without you."

"First Lucy, now you – how many times do I have to tell you? This is the end, Natsu. I've said goodbye, it's over, and now it's time for me to pay the price for my sin."

"And you think that's okay?" Natsu demanded. "You've said goodbye, and that makes it fine for you to break Lucy's heart? The fact that you feel a bit bad about it somehow makes up for the fact that you're just turning your back on our guild? Lucy is out there crying her eyes out because she risked everything to help you, and you just abandoned her. She can't be here right now, so I've come instead, on behalf of her and all of Fairy Tail. And I'm not leaving without you."

"Natsu!" The two were shouting at each other now. Even the King had stopped walking, watching the confrontation with a kind of uncertain bemusement. "Look, you don't understand-"

"Sure I do. I heard Lucy earlier. Someone died, and it wasn't your fault. You should be screaming your innocence to the world, not walking tamely along to your death like this! What happened to your pride, Loke? What happened to the cool, confident, woman-chasing, life-grabbing Loke I knew?"

If that was meant to elicit a reaction, then it failed. At the mention of his previous Master, Loke's eyes had glazed over. "Karen… I cared about her. I never meant for her to… I didn't want… but if I hadn't disobeyed her orders, she'd have been able to summon a Spirit and fight. She wouldn't have died. That's as good as killing her."

"No, it's not! You didn't make her go out looking for trouble-"

"It's all the same, in the eyes of the law-"

"Screw the law!" Natsu laughed, scornfully. "Did being in Fairy Tail teach you nothing?"

"No! You don't understand! It's different for you, in your world where everything is in flux. You can be wild, you can be rebellious; hell, the entire world might be different tomorrow anyway! Here, we need these laws to give our society a structure to hold it together throughout eternity. Our contracts with those who hold our keys define us; that was the condition of the magic that gave us life. I broke that contract, and so I must be punished, in order to enforce the law and protect this world which can't exist without it. That's the difference between your world and mine, Natsu: without those fundamental laws which give us purpose, we would be nothing."

"Hey, moustache man!" Natsu shouted, suddenly turning his attention to the King. He had even less care for formality when the life of a friend was on the line. "Tell him he's wrong!"

But the giant only ponderously shook his head. "The law is absolute. Even for a friend, it cannot be broken."

"But it can be changed."

"The law has never changed."

A frown crossed Natsu's face. "That's not an answer."

"Natsu, please, stop this," Loke begged, quietly. "I'm glad you came. It means a lot that you'd come through the Gate to try and save me. But, this is my decision. I am guilty of this crime, and all the goodwill in the world won't change that. I've accepted it. My death is necessary to maintain the order of this world. So, please. Stop interfering in things you don't understand. Go home, and live the rest of your life."

Natsu did not respond immediately. Even so, the normally silent world of the divine firmament buzzed with noise and with life. Loke had been so absorbed in Natsu's arrival that he hadn't noticed a crowd had gathered around them and the King. Some were familiar faces – Loke's old companions from the Zodiac Gates, not to mention Plues of all kinds and colours – but there were many more as well, drawn by the kind of disruption that only a human being could bring to this serene domain. Whether they stood in solidarity or in judgement, he didn't know.

He noticed with a start that Natsu was shaking. He had mistaken the other's silence for placation; in reality, it had only made him angry. Still, when Natsu spoke, his voice was unusually quiet. "That's your answer then, is it, Loke? You've given up fighting. You want to die."

Loke's eyes widened. "I-"

"That's right, isn't it? Without a care for those you're leaving behind; without a thought for those who need you. All this supposed devotion to stupid ancient laws is just to cover the fact that you're a coward who doesn't have the courage to carry on living. Sure, living is difficult, but overcoming those difficulties is what it means to be human; to be alive. But you don't want to struggle on like that, do you? Having to live on carrying the memory of what you did is a pain. You'd rather die."

Loke only stared in shock.

"Go on," Natsu challenged, ferocious and ancient and more than a mere man. "Admit it."

"Yes!" Loke shrieked. "Yes! I want to die!"

And Natsu hit him. It wasn't a friendly jab, or even a harmless slap meant to bring him to his senses. It was a blow fuelled by anger and by hatred, one which sent Loke sprawling along the silvery path with the cracking of bones. If Natsu had still had the power of a Dragon Slayer, it might have killed him.

"How dare you?" Natsu hissed. "How dare you stand in front of me, carrying the Fairy Tail mark, and say that you want to die?"

"Na-Natsu-" Loke couldn't physically say any more than that. This pain was the pain of the physical world, the place he had left behind.

"No one in Fairy Tail gives up. No one in Fairy Tail is afraid of living. Whether it's against Phantom Lord, the Magic Council, or even Laxus, we fight to keep moving forwards. We fight for each other; we fight for ourselves; we fight against fate, so that we can become better human beings. We embrace each new day as it comes, good or bad, for every day is another chance to laugh with our friends, or to overcome our problems, or to become stronger, or to make amends for the things we have done wrong! That's what Fairy Tail is all about!

"If you want to turn your back on that, then fine. Go ahead and give up. Do whatever it is you've convinced yourself will alleviate your guilt, but first of all, get rid of that guild mark. You can do what you want with yourself, but don't dishonour my guild."

Despite the pain it caused him, Loke slowly reached over and touched the red mark on his right shoulder, the only physical reminder of his years of exile. Not his guild mark, but Natsu's. That symbol connected him to a stranger: someone he would never have met, if he hadn't taken the decision to pose as a human and join a guild. It was a fragile bond formed between humans; a single gesture that transcended space and time and surpassed the turbulence of the ever-changing world.

Why had he joined Fairy Tail? It had been a move of reckless spontaneity. It hadn't meant anything at the time; it had just been a way to pass the time until his life force ran out. Take some jobs. Keep up to date with current affairs. Talk to people. Meet companions. Make friends. And then, at some point, so quietly that he hadn't even noticed, he had stopped waiting to die, and started living.

A whole range of people from all walks of life, with all sorts of histories and all manner of goals for the future, had been drawn together by that guild mark and a shared desire to protect what it stood for. Even stripped of their magic, they had stood together against Phantom Lord, for the sake of that ambiguous concept called a 'guild' – which had long since transcended the legal definitions set down by the Magic Council to become something indescribable, yet somehow certain. It was a reason for a Celestial Spirit mage who was almost a stranger to risk her life trying to open a sealed Gate. It was a reason for a Dragon Slayer to barge into another world with no thought for his own safety. Wasn't it also a reason to live?

"I…" began Loke.

"Hmm?"

"I want to live," he said. And then louder: "I want to go back to Fairy Tail! I want to live alongside those who risked everything to help me!" He fought the pain in his chest, and forced himself to his feet. The physical pain was nothing compared to the emotional one. It was okay, wasn't it? Okay to say what he had really been feeling; okay to choose the values of the mortal world he had come to love over those of his own? "Karen's death was an accident! I didn't cause it, and it wasn't my fault! The law is unfair!"

In the silence, as the gathered crowd of Spirits looked on in shock, Natsu simply grinned. "That's more like it." He turned his attention back to the Spirit King with a cheerful challenge. "So, what do you say, big guy? How about we revise the law in light of Loke's innocence and let him go back home?"

But the giant only shook his helmed head. "The law must remain absolute. Changing it for the sake of one individual will undermine the entire stability of our world. I am sorry, my old friend, but you were right the first time. Whether your actions were intentional or not, the price must be paid for what you did."

"No…" Loke breathed, his eyes widening. "So… I'm just going to die anyway? After I said all that… and now I can't even pretend to be content about it…"

"Nope," Natsu declared. He planted himself firmly between Loke and the Spirit King, gazing up at the giant with defiance in his battle stance and fire in his eyes. "I ain't gonna let that happen."

The King boomed, "Mortal… stand aside. This does not concern you."

"If it concerns a member of Fairy Tail, then it concerns me. Sure, I don't really get your illogical insistence on following these stupid laws when you practically just admitted that Loke doesn't deserve this punishment, but Loke is my friend, and if you want him, you have to go through me!"

The King's moustache trembled. Slowly, he raised his hand, as if preparing to strike. Natsu just smiled. Nothing ever fazed him.

"Natsu, no!" Loke cried out. "You can't fight the Spirit King!"

"Why not? He doesn't look so tough. I think I'll start by setting fire to that stupid old moustache of his."

"This is your last chance, mortal. Stand aside, or I will remove you from this world by force."

"This is _your_ last chance! Accept Loke's innocence and let him go!"

The giant let out a deep sigh, like the rush of the wind on a cloudless night. "Then I shall do what I must, to uphold the order of my world."

That enormous hand reached down towards Natsu. He was nothing more than a speck of dust in its shadow, but he stood his ground. Even though he was staring up into the face of an opponent he couldn't possibly defeat, he would not back down. The brief moment of levity when he and Loke had agreed was all but gone from his stance. This was Natsu, utterly serious, and right now, it was possible to believe he was even capable of slaying a dragon. Slowly at first, and then with rapidly increasing intensity, magic power began to build up in the air around him.

"How?" Loke murmured. It shouldn't have been possible. Natsu had never been able to use his magic while Changeling was active, so how was he doing that?

"I won't let you take Loke!" Natsu yelled. "He belongs to Fairy Tail, not to you!"

And then it wasn't just magic surrounding him, but fire – the fire of a Dragon Slayer. As the Spirit King's hand descended towards him, preparing to drag him out of the way, it only burned brighter, stripping the stars of their dominance.

"Oh, why not?" Loke murmured rhetorically, jumping forwards into the fire. The flames were cool to his touch – he was, technically, in the body of a Fire Dragon Slayer after all – and he stood back to back with Natsu, channelling as much power as he could to add to the maelstrom swirling around them.

The enormous hand closed around them. Just for a moment, he felt that physical force touching his body, threatening to crush his bones. But their magic wouldn't allow it. Natsu's flames burned even brighter, the raw magic power within them forcing away the King's hand. For a moment the two sides were tied, physical strength against the will of their magic.

And then, as if from nowhere, there was another surge in the power around them. The flames were no longer red but golden, the celestial shining of the stars. That was the desire of the two of them to live – for those who walked alongside them; for those they had had to leave behind; for the sake of the guild which had brought together two strangers who should never have met, in this world beyond worlds. That was the strength of that irrational and glorious devotion to a concept that couldn't even be put into words. These were flames of emotion, pouring forth from an unguarded heart.

Light flared one final time and then vanished, their magic spent. When their eyes had adjusted back to the perpetual night of the celestial realm, the enormous hand, still smoking from the fire, had been completely withdrawn. Nor was that the only thing that had changed. Initially, Loke couldn't place that strange sense of dislocation that came over him – how had the King moved to stand in front of him so quickly? How had the stars and planets he had been looking at earlier changed position and colour?

Belatedly, he understood: he was the one that had moved, not them. It wasn't just the position, either. Everything felt different, from the way his clothes hung on his body to the force in the rise and fall of his lungs - not to mention the swelling magic power inside him, the magic of a Celestial Spirit once again, as if welcoming him home.

They had done it. They had overcome Changeling.

"Hey, where'd moustache man go?" Natsu demanded, ruining the moment somewhat. Still, Loke couldn't help smiling. Natsu's indignation sounded so much more natural in his own voice.

"Natsu, we've switched back," Loke told him, with a sigh.

"Oh, awesome!" Flames jumped into the air in front of him, this time completely under the Dragon Slayer's control. "This'll make it a lot more fun."

Loke glanced up at the Spirit King. The expression on his old friend's face was inscrutable. "Yeah… I guess this isn't over, is it? We can't give up fighting yet."

Movement to his left hand side caught his attention. To his surprise, he turned to see Virgo stood with her back to him and Natsu, her resolute eyes alert for any threats from the side. Before he could say anything, Taurus appeared on his right with axe raised high, completing their defensive circle. "Virgo… Taurus… what are you doing?"

Virgo explained, matter-of-factly, "Lucy would be upset if you didn't return. As her Spirit, I consider it my duty to protect her happiness."

"You really do care about her, huh?" And then Loke smiled, closing his eyes. He had known that all along, hadn't he? "That's a true Celestial Spirit mage for you."

More and more Spirits joined them – Cancer, Sagittarius, even Aquarius. Most said nothing; only Aquarius felt the need to clarify her position. "Tch, it's not like I care about that girl or anything. It's just been too quiet without you here, Leo."

A small, slender figure placed herself firmly between Loke and the King. "Please," Aries cried, the emotion of the moment overcoming her timidity. "He was only trying to protect me! Leo never wanted our Master to die – he cared about her more than anyone did. You have to take that into account – so, please!"

Anything else that she might have had to say was lost in the stampede as more Spirits flooded across to stand by Loke's side. An entire army of Plues swept down upon them; he had to fight to keep his balance as the tide of overexcited doglike creatures threatened to carry him away.

Natsu laughed. "I wish Lucy could see this!" When Loke gave him a curious glance, he just grinned, back to his usual self. "I feel a bit redundant now."

"Thank you, Natsu," Loke said, wholeheartedly. "Thank you, everyone."

"Enough!" bellowed the King. The rabble quietened immediately. Even the Plues came to a halt. "Thank you. The law, which has stood to protect our kind since the beginning of our world's time, cannot just be altered arbitrarily." Below, the crowd shifted uncomfortably. "However… if all the people of this world seek change, perhaps it is time to rethink our purpose. Leo the Lion!"

"Yes?"

"Even if the blame does not entirely lie with you, you did play a part in the death of your Master. That fact will never change. But perhaps more important than acknowledging one's sin is the courage to live on and make amends for it. Under the revised law of the Celestial Spirit World, I hereby declare that your Gate will be re-opened. You are free to live as you wish."

Loke couldn't stop a broad smile spreading across his face. Behind him, Natsu jumped up, punching the air in victory. As the cheers began to spread throughout the assembled Spirits, Loke felt true gratitude towards all of his old friends – and, of course, to his new ones too. Only Natsu could force a revision of the law in a world where the concept of change did not exist. Only he would be crazy enough to try.

As if on cue, Natsu shouted up at the King, "Hey! You know what, moustache man? You're not so bad after all!"

The King's only response was to smile. He inclined his large head in farewell, his form disappearing into sparks of light which flew up to join the stars in the heavens. Following his lead, the crowd of Spirits began to disperse, shouting their farewells and congratulations to their companion as they did so. Aries was the last to leave. She thanked Natsu and gave Loke a shy hug, and then ran off into the distance.

The world seemed suddenly silent, and suddenly empty. Natsu didn't really do serenity; uncomfortable with the lack of action, he stretched and cracked his knuckles loudly. "So, what now?" he asked Loke, by way of filling the vast and empty world. "Are you going to stay here?"

He had thought it was an obvious question, but to his surprise, Loke shook his head. "No. I'm going to become Lucy's Spirit. That way I can continue to fight alongside all of you. Besides, I'm still part of Fairy Tail, remember? No way am I abandoning my guild in its darkest hour."

"You said it," Natsu grinned. "And I've got my magic back just in time to head out there and beat the crap out of Laxus!"

In the dark, still world, his proud declaration rang out a little hollow. Confused, Natsu glanced from side to side. "Umm… So, about that… How do we get back to Magnolia, exactly?"

"Ah," Loke said softly. In the heat of the moment, he had completely forgotten where they were. "We may have a bit of a problem."

* * *

 _ **A/N:** So it wasn't exactly an unpredictable outcome to the storyline, but it was a necessary one. For me, __Changeling had already determined that this event was going to focus on Natsu and Loke rather than Lucy and Loke, and hence the focus was shifted away from the relationship between a Spirit and their summoner and more towards what Loke actually learnt during his exile and his desire to live on as a part of Fairy Tail._ _Yes, an immortal, unchanging society given a purpose only by laws which its inhabitants have come to see as more important than life itself might not be quite in line with canon, but hey. And in my defence, when I wrote this chapter, all I'd seen of the Celestial Spirit World and its King were those two episodes of Loke's storyline early on. I wasn't aware that canon would go into more detail later on, let alone that the King would ever actually be summoned... Either way, I hope you liked it, or at least didn't mind it!_

 _Anyway, there's one scene left to go on that little storyline (which is slightly too long for me to tack onto the end of this chapter, hence the minor cliffhanger, sorry!) and then it's back on with the Battle of Fairy Tail. Laxus got a mini appearance in this chapter just to remind everyone that he's still out there somewhere. It's ironic that he gets hardly any screeentime in his own arc, but that's because he's spent most of this storyline sulking in the cathedral, and who wants to read about that? ~CS_


	14. Strategies from the Line of Fire

_**A/N:**_ _Chapter Fourteen - the most important chapter of the entire arc, and maybe even of the entire story. ~CS_

 _(Re: the last chapter taking place in the Celestial Spirit World, I didn't know back when I wrote/planned this that time is supposed to flow differently there, and trying to add that in now will ruin the entire rest of the arc. So let's just casually pretend that time is going to behave itself and this chapter can pick up from exactly where the last one let off...)_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Fourteen: Strategies from the Line of Fire**

Humans couldn't survive in the Celestial Spirit World. That was one of the first things every young Celestial Spirit mage learnt. Just as existing in the human world for so long had slowly sapped Loke's strength, so Natsu too would suffer and ultimately die – a far faster end than had been promised to Loke, for he was well accustomed to travelling between worlds, and Natsu was not. But Natsu had been through the Spirit World before, hadn't he? Maybe he could survive there for a short period of time… but he had been gone for so many minutes already, and still there was no sign of him or Loke.

These thoughts ran through Lucy's mind over and over again as she knelt there in the middle of the abandoned square, at the edge of the fountain, unaware of anything that might have been going on around her. This was the second time in the space of a few minutes that she'd had to deal with the grief of losing Natsu. Why did he have to be so reckless? Maybe, if he'd known the danger, he wouldn't have run into the other world.

No. Of course he would have done. If he thought there was any chance of saving Loke, he'd have seized it, regardless of the risk to himself. That was just what Natsu did, wasn't it?

"Hey, cosplaying cheerleader!"

"Cheerleader!" echoed five excited, high-pitched voices.

Lucy sprung to her feet, overwhelmed by the sudden sense of danger. One hand tried to wipe away the tears from her eyes while the other groped blindly for the keys at her waist. "My name's Lucy!" she shot back, playing for time more than anything else.

"Lucy, then."

She snatched up a key at random, praying that it wasn't Aquarius's, and she had it raised towards the sky before she realized that Bickslow wasn't actually attacking her. Furiously blinking back the tears, she laid eyes upon him for the first time. He was stood a respectable distance away from her, with his arms folded and those strange totem-like dolls bobbing around his head. Under her wary gaze, he made no move to approach, let alone attack.

"If I were you," he continued, "I'd try opening that Gate again."

Loke's Gate. Why would he say something like that? Was it a ploy, trying to trick her into using up her magic power before they fought? Surely it would have been easier for him to just attack her while she was down, without going to all the bother of alerting her to his presence. And come to think of it, how had Loke managed to escape from him earlier?

It was then that she noticed the faint green glow emanating from behind Bickslow's visor. His eyes – Loke had mentioned something about him having a kind of Eye Magic; the power to see souls, wasn't it? Was it possible that he was connected to the Spirit World in some way?

Well, it wasn't as if she had anything to lose. If there was any chance that this might help her friends in some way then she would do it. It took all her willpower, but she forced herself to turn her back on her enemy, facing once again the direction Loke and Natsu had vanished into. Her eyes were squeezed shut. She was convinced she was going to be attacked from behind any moment now. The fear of being helpless, of being blind, was almost paralyzing.

But she would not let fear stop her. Lucy raised her arms to the sky. She had no key for this Gate, but she could still feel its distinctive magic lingering in the air around her – magic so warm and familiar, it almost seemed alive. It brought back memories: the peculiar way Loke had always run away when she was around; fighting alongside him against Phantom Lord's mages; him sharing his secret with her on that fateful night. It was all too easy for her: "Gate of the Lion, I open thee! _Loke!_ "

There was a blaze of golden light and a crash like thunder, and when it had dimmed enough for her to be able to see again, she could make out two silhouettes coming towards her. One moment they were an inconceivably vast distance away, and the next they were right there in front of her, and the glimpse of the Spirit World was gone.

But the sight only made Lucy frown in puzzlement. She saw what she perceived to be Natsu, dragging a limp Loke along behind him on the floor. "Loke! What happened to you?" she demanded, running forwards.

"Oh, this is Natsu. We swapped back," Loke told her cheerfully. "Turns out, Spirit Gates count as a form of transportation."

"Make it stop…" mumbled Natsu. His face was blue and bulging; just looking at him made Lucy feel nauseous. That was Natsu, alright. They really had switched back.

And without even realizing it, Lucy had broken out into a huge smile. "It _has_ stopped, Natsu. It's over. You're back. You're both back."

Natsu shook himself like a dog, as if only just realizing he was back on solid ground. Completely himself again, he jumped to his feet. "Course we are! What do you take us for? We cleared up that little misunderstanding with the moustache man, and he's letting Loke back into the Spirit World, so it's all good!"

Lucy grinned. "Sure, but how did you do it? How did you undo Changeling?"

"It just kind of happened, I guess," Natsu reflected. Then his face lit up. "Oh, I know! It was right after I threatened to burn the big guy's moustache off!"

"You did _what?_ " But there was never any point in questioning Natsu's logic – especially not when it had so clearly _worked_ – so she gave up with a sigh. "So, Loke, you're a Spirit again now?"

"Yes, thanks to the two of you." He uncurled his hand towards Lucy; resting on his palm was a shining golden key. "From now on, I'll be by your side, whenever you need me."

"Thank you, Loke." Because it was all she could say.

"Not that I'm planning on heading back to the Spirit World any time soon. I've got a guild to protect. I'm not leaving here until that rogue Master of ours has been taught a lesson."

"Is it really okay for you to stay here like that?" Lucy asked, thinking only of how he had suffered for three years in this world.

"Well, as it turns out…" Loke gave a self-conscious laugh. "When we forced my Gate open earlier, we kind of… broke it."

" _Broke_ it?"

"Metaphorically speaking. I guess the best way I can explain it to you is… well, it's kind of stuck open now, rather than being permanently sealed. It makes it an awful lot easier for me to travel between the worlds under my own power, and probably for me to stay here as well. It's also how you were able to open my Gate just now without actually having my key. That was excellent timing, by the way. How did you know when we needed you to open it?"

"Well, actually…" She had been so excited about seeing Loke and Natsu returning safely that all thoughts of the enemy she had been so scared of had gone completely out of her mind. Now that her friends were back, she could turn and face him without fear. Bickslow was still watching them patiently from across the plaza. "It was Bickslow who told me to open it. It would never have occurred to me to try it otherwise."

"The barriers between this world and yours are weak in the places where Spirit Gates have recently been used," Bickslow explained, without a trace of hostility. "With my eyes, I could see the two of you on the other side, waiting for the path to be opened."

Loke nodded sagely. "Ah, I understand. Thank you."

Bemused, Lucy glanced between the two of them. "You don't seem surprised."

"I explained everything to him earlier," Loke told her. "He let me chase after you and Natsu. I'd never have got away from him if it had come to a fight."

His words surprised Lucy, but it was Natsu who spoke up, demanding of Bickslow, "Why would you do that? We're your enemies!"

"True," said the other, coolly. "But there's a difference between trying to reform a guild and wanting to murder its members. My instructions were to stop you from meeting up with your allies at the hospital, not to stand by and watch while my former colleagues die."

Ashamedly, Lucy realized she had been far too hasty to judge this man. Sure, he looked pretty creepy. His outfit was odd, his floating dolls were weird, and the guild mark on his tongue was utterly off-putting. Yet he had the heart of a true member of Fairy Tail. They weren't fighting against nameless enemies here, but against former friends; allies who believed they were doing the right thing just as much as she thought opposing them was justified. For the first time, she realized that maybe, from his point of view, Laxus did have a good reason for what he was doing to the guild.

"Of course," Bickslow continued, "That doesn't mean I'm not going to fight you. If you try to get back to the others, I will certainly stop you!"

"Stop you!" echoed his dolls.

Natsu laughed. "I was hoping you were gonna say that," he crowed, bringing his fists together in a blaze of fire. "I haven't been able to properly fight someone for ages, and I'm all fired up!"

Lucy rolled her eyes at him, but she couldn't stop herself from smiling. Loke stepped in between her and Bickslow. "I'll protect you, Lucy!"

"I can look after myself!" she rebuked him. "Let's fight together, not as mage and Spirit, but as fellow members of Fairy Tail!"

"I can't argue with that," admitted Loke.

At the other side of the plaza, Bickslow's dolls had begun to pick up pace, whizzing through the air around him. "That's more like it! Show me what you've got, Fairy Tail!"

Raising his arm in preparation for an attack, he stepped forward – and walked right into an invisible wall.

Purple runes materialized in the air in front of him, pressing up against his squished face and spreading out to form a barrier in all directions. Natsu sniggered; after their dramatic declarations of war earlier, even Loke had to admit he found the scenario funny. Bickslow seemed unable to comprehend the situation. He backed away from the wall and tried to walk through it again, with the exact same results. Those runes were as substantial to him as they had been to the members of Fairy Tail earlier.

"Hey, Freed!" he yelled, banging one fist against the stubborn runes. "What are you playing at? Quit it!"

Lucy's eyes widened. "It's Levy! She's worked out how to place new walls!"

"This isn't over! Don't underestimate a ranged mage!" Cackling filled the air; belatedly, Lucy realized that though Bickslow was behind the wall, his dolls had already passed beyond it when it appeared, and there was nothing to stop them from attacking.

One of them zoomed straight towards her. Too sudden for her to reach for her keys or her whip, she trusted her instincts and dived to the side just in time. It missed her by inches, shooting past her head and crashing to the ground a few feet behind her. She turned to face it, prepared for it to change direction and head back towards her – only to find it wouldn't be doing so anytime soon. The doll was frozen solid in a large crystal of ice. Glancing around, Lucy could see that the other dolls had suffered the same fate: encased in solid blocks which froze them to the ground.

"My babies!" howled Bickslow. "You froze them! How _could_ you?"

Lucy knew that magic. "Gray!" she called out joyously, another beaming smile taking over her face. There was so much unexpected happiness in this place, her jaw was aching from the strain of trying to somehow express it all.

Except her joy rapidly turned to alarm as he limped into view. His usual lack of a shirt revealed the extent of the bruising all over his body; his face was contorted with the effort just of raising his arms to use Ice Make. Even so, when he saw that they were unharmed, he did his best to look relieved.

Naturally, not everyone was happy to see him. "Hey! What do you think you're doing, interfering in my fight?" Natsu demanded.

"No one's got the time to wait for you to win a battle right now!" Gray retaliated. "We need to get back to Erza straight away!"

"Says who?"

"Says _Erza!_ " Gray tapped his forehead impatiently. "Warren made it to the others. I'm in mental communication with Erza and Levy via him right now, and we're running out of time. That's why Levy interfered with the barrier – that's why I had to come here, to make sure that you got the message!"

Natsu glared at him. Neutrally, he remarked, "I heard you lost to Evergreen."

"Yeah." Gray's mouth was set in a firm line. "I overstretched myself. It won't happen again."

"It'd better not." The two of them stared at each other for a long moment, and then Natsu shrugged. "Ah, well. If Erza's calling, then I guess it can't be helped. Sorry, Bickslow!" he added, turning back to wave at the man still trapped behind the rune barrier. "I don't want to upset Erza; you know what she can be like! We'll have to postpone this match until another time!"

"I owe you one," Loke called. "Soon, we'll have a fair fight, and settle this properly!"

"Come on!" Gray insisted, already heading off towards the hospital. The others followed at a jog, automatically slowing down their normal running pace so they didn't get too far ahead of their injured comrade.

Helpless to do anything but watch as they escaped from him, Bickslow rested his forehead against the wall of runes with a sigh. "Oh, man. Laxus is going to be furious."

* * *

By the time the four of them had made it back to the hospital, the situation was changing. Erza, Levy, Warren and Mira were sat together, having a rapid and intense discussion in low voices. At the sound of the door opening, Erza glanced over to them and beckoned. "Good," she remarked. "Now, finally, we're all here."

"All?" Lucy echoed, mystified.

But Erza was right. The room was full of people. Many of them she knew, yet more she had seen around, and there were even some Lucy had never met before. Some were injured, some even unconscious; their friends were busy putting the hospital beds to good use and caring for them the best they could. Some were stood in small groups, talking about their exploits. Some were arguing loudly, blaming those they had fought against, and demanding rematches or trying to settle things with angry words. Some were practising with magic. Some were hovering around Erza's group, the centre of command, trying to find out what was going on.

This, Lucy suddenly realized, was all of Fairy Tail. With the exception of Mystogan and Gajeel, who were still out in the field stalling Freed and Laxus respectively, everyone was safe. Mira's plan had worked. With Warren's communication abilities and Levy's manipulation of Freed's magic, along with Erza working as their tactician, they had managed to render Laxus's plan of rune traps and a grand battle royal utterly ineffectual.

"Yes," Erza affirmed. "This is everyone in the guild. We've achieved our first goal."

"Then… is it over?" Lucy dared to ask. "Laxus can't make us fight any more, right?"

"No. In fact, it's only just begun."

"As if we're going to just let Laxus get away with what he's done!" Gray exclaimed. At the sound of his outburst, most people in the room stopped their conversations to listen in to the main group's discussion.

"That brat needs to be taught a lesson," Makarov grumbled. "Aborting his game halfway through isn't enough! I won't let him get away with doing this to my guild!"

"We all feel the same," confirmed Loke, his eyes narrowing. "For the sake of those who have been injured, we've got to defeat him."

Lucy added, "Not to mention, he vowed to disband the guild if we couldn't find and beat him, didn't he? We don't have a choice."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" demanded Natsu. "We're all here now! Let's go get him together!"

"Are you a complete moron?" Erza retaliated, her eyes flashing. "If you go dashing out there now, you'll just ruin everything we've been working towards!"

"So what are you suggesting? That we just let him get away with everything?"

Murmurings of dissent rose up from the crowd, drowning out any response Erza may have made. Almost every person in that room blamed Laxus for something – for the injuries they had sustained while fighting each other or the Raijinshuu; for the exhaustion from the difficult jobs they had been forced to do to raise money for the repairs; for all the tension and ill will that had been building up in the guild since the guildhall had been destroyed. Many of them, if asked, would have even pinned the blame for that on Laxus without a second thought, such was the sentiment in the room. By extension, all the bad things that had happened to Fairy Tail were his fault. Defeating him here, taking their anger out on him, making him pay, would set everything right.

"We won't just sit here and wait for him to change his mind!"

"Let's take revenge for everything that he's done to us!"

"We'll get him! If we spread out across the town-"

"I'll finally get to prove that I'm the strongest!"

"We don't want a man like him as our Master!"

Erza's eyes slowly opened. " _Silence!_ "

The rabble quietened immediately. "Listen to yourselves," she said. "Is this really Fairy Tail talking? It's pathetic."

"Hey, Erza-" Natsu began angrily, but she glanced at him, and he quailed under her gaze. Even as a cat, her eyes burned.

"Talking about who's going to fight who – about who's going to be made to suffer. Just think about what you're saying. We're Fairy Tail. Even towards Phantom Lord, after what they did to our guildhall and to Levy's team, we did not harbour such hatred. How can you condemn what Laxus is doing, and yet think of nothing except enacting violent revenge upon him?"

Erza curled her paw into a fist. "Believe me, no one wants to stop Laxus more than I do, but rushing out there – going back into that chaotic battlefield of tricks and traps and friends fighting friends, just for the sake of being able to land a hit on the man who started this – is not the way to do it! How does that make us any better than him?"

"That's a stupid question!" someone yelled. It could have been anyone in the room; they were all thinking along the same lines. "Because we're fighting together, for the sake of the guild."

"Think about it," said Erza. "None of this makes any sense. If Laxus wanted to destroy the guild, why not just disband it immediately? He has that right. Why bother setting us an ultimatum? Why give us a chance to defeat him; why introduce an element of risk to himself and his allies?"

Gray snapped, "Because he wants to watch us suffer!"

"Perhaps," admitted Erza softly. "But there's more. What about the rune traps, and the barriers in the town? They're meant to make us fight each other, but even they don't really make sense. We've already proven that they're designed only to trigger when they register the magical presence of someone from Fairy Tail. In other words, the runes only work on us, not the other mages in town. And, as a result of them confining the battles to such small spaces, even with the fighting taking place all over the town, there's been hardly any destruction to property – by Fairy Tail standards, anyway. If all Laxus wanted was to cause devastation and violence, then why would he go to all that trouble?"

"It is a highly inefficient use of magic, getting the Jutsu Shiki to filter out Fairy Tail mages only," Levy confirmed. "I will admit that."

"In other words, I do not believe that hatred is Laxus's motivation."

"So what?" demanded Wakaba, gesturing towards Macao, who was still heavily injured from his brief confrontation with Laxus earlier. "It doesn't change what he's doing to us."

"No. It changes everything."

"Erza, why are you defending that fool?" This was Makarov. He still looked angry, but there was also a kind of dark curiosity to his question.

"Because I believe that some part of Laxus wants us to stop him. I don't think that he even realizes it himself, but I truly believe that somewhere deep inside, he wants us to win, and prove to him the strength of the guild."

There was silence, broken only by a laugh of disbelief. "Don't be ridiculous!" Cana exclaimed. Her usually quiet, sarcastic voice was instead a roar from Elfman's mouth, and it took them all a moment or two to remember that she and Elfman had also been swapped by Changeling. "How can you say that, after everything he's done to us?" Murmurs of assent followed.

Natsu piped up, neutral to the outcome of Erza's declaration, and instead focussed on an entirely different matter. "Even if you're right, I don't see how that changes anything. We've still got to go out there and beat him, so why are you trying to stop me from crushing him and proving I'm the strongest in the guild?"

"Everyone, will you listen to me for just a moment?"

All eyes turned immediately to the little old man stood on the end of one of the beds. Under the weight of those prejudiced stares, Mira almost faltered. She had never been a shy person – but wasn't hesitance only to be expected, when the outcome of this debate, and the very future of Fairy Tail, might rest on her ability to convey her own emotions to them successfully? Yet no one spoke out against her. They waited patiently for their treasured Mirajane to make her thoughts heard.

"Go on," Makarov prompted.

So she said, "The thing is… I understand why Laxus is doing this. I mean, I don't agree with it! Using the chaos of this troubled time to force friends to fight against each other is abhorrent. But I do think that I understand how he's feeling. He's not just some enemy, like Jose of Phantom Lord – he's Laxus, our Laxus, _Fairy Tail's_ Laxus; just a few days ago he saved all of us from total ruin. As Erza said, he wouldn't do something like this just out of anger. He has a reason."

"What could possibly justify something like this?" laughed Cana.

"Laxus wouldn't do it, unless he thought it was the right thing to do." There was silence, as they tried to work out a way in which that was possible. "Tensions have been running high in the guild ever since the destruction of the guildhall, and the fine from the Magic Council only made things worse. Laxus, having only just achieved his dream of becoming Guild Master, suddenly finds that through no fault of his own, his guild is on the verge of being ruined.

"In the recovery effort, most people at least are trying their hardest, but some people can do more than others. Some of us are great at doing dangerous, high-reward missions, and for others, their strength lies elsewhere. But for Laxus, there is only one kind of power – the kind that he has in abundance; individual strength. Anyone who can't keep up with him is weak, a liability to the guild; anyone who isn't working as hard as he is to restore the power of his guild is just draining its resources. He wants to make Fairy Tail stronger, by forcing us to fight each other and finding out who does and doesn't deserve to be here."

"That's just ridiculous!" interrupted Macao. "Tearing the guild apart isn't going to make it stronger! Why are you standing up for him? Laxus is obviously the villain here!"

"I know, and I'm not trying to defend him! I only thought that if you could see things through his eyes, you might understand the importance of this fight. It's just…"

Mira sighed to herself. Feelings in her heart, long suppressed, were overwhelming. Now was hardly the time or the place to give voice to them, but… but like it or not, she _did_ understand him. She was always the empathetic one, and what use was that if she couldn't get through to Laxus when he needed understanding the most?

"Ever since Lisanna… since that day, I haven't been able to use magic. All I do is sit around and use up resources, unable to give anything back to Fairy Tail because I'm not even a mage any more. I can't further the guild's reputation or finances by taking on jobs. I'm of no use to anyone. Sometimes I think that the guild would be better off if I wasn't around."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Almost everyone in the room voiced words to that effect; since he was the loudest, they let Natsu continue on their behalf. "Fairy Tail wouldn't be the same without you, Mira!"

A reluctant, but honest, smile. "Thank you, Natsu. Even so, because I've felt like that… and especially when so much of what has happened recently is my fault… I can see things from his point of view, I think."

She took a deep breath, and when no one interrupted her this time, she pressed on. "Laxus has always been alone in the guild. After his father was excommunicated, the only people he ever really associated with were the Raijinshuu, and they admire him too much to ever tell him he is wrong. He has always had to contend with strangers only ever seeing him as Makarov Dreyar's grandson, and never on his own merit. I know I for one am guilty of this... I was always jealous of his power, and reluctant to admit that it might have come as much from his own hard work as from his lineage. But whatever the reason, he's always felt isolated in his own guild – and that isolation is almost certainly why he doesn't feel that there's anything wrong with what he's doing right now."

She clasped her hands together in front of her and gazed meekly at the floor. "And right now, perhaps he has all the more reason to feel isolated. Even before he officially became our Master, we rejected him. During the fight against Phantom Lord, during the first few days of our recovery – the guild made it clear that it was never going to accept him, long before he ever properly got to act as our Guild Master. We weren't even willing to give him a chance to prove himself."

"Because his conduct over the past few days-" Makarov snapped, but she interrupted him.

"Yes, the past few days have been bad. They've been _really_ bad. But they would have been bad anyway, no matter who was in charge, because that's just the severity of the situation that the guild was in. At the heart of it, we and Laxus came into conflict because we expected him to compromise without being willing to compromise ourselves. I believe he was wrong to cancel the Fantasia Parade, sure, but would there really have been any harm in agreeing to postpone it until after we finished rebuilding the guildhall? Yes, he wasn't prepared to listen or to talk things through, but neither were we. From the start, we had no intention of treating him like our Guild Master.

"Fairy Tail's strength lies in its unity. It always has. Wasn't it always an axiom of our old Master's that everyone is welcome in Fairy Tail? Whether they're family, strangers, or even former enemies; whether they're an S-Class Mage or someone with no magic power whatsoever – none of that matters in our guild. But how can we expect Laxus to hold to that if we don't either? How could we have expected him to accept us as his guild if we didn't accept him as our Guild Master?"

"Either way, it absolutely does not excuse what he is doing." It might have been Makarov who spoke, or Macao, or anyone in the room. They were all thinking the same thing.

Mira bowed her head in acquiescence. "I know that. Perhaps I am only trying to rationalize this situation because I am just as responsible for it as he is." She gave a heartbreakingly sad smile. "You're right, and what he's doing is unforgivable. But rather than just denouncing his actions, let's show him why they're wrong. He justifies his actions to himself because he has always felt isolated within his own guild, so let's show him how much we care about every single one of our members. He rejects us because he thinks the guild is weak; let's prove to him that it is strong in ways he couldn't possibly imagine. Then maybe next time, he won't make the same mistake."

The more she spoke, the more confident Mira's voice became. She was completely unaware of it herself, but to everyone else, it was as clear as day. This wasn't the bartender Mira that they were used to – who empathized with everyone and was always there to greet them with a smile when they needed it the most. Nor was this the Demon Mirajane, fiery and self-assured and outrageous, with the tempestuous magic power to back it up. This was a side of Mira they had never seen before; the courage that had grown invisibly in the long darkness of Lisanna's death. When she had acquired Makarov's body, perhaps she had also gained some of the old man's self-confidence – and maybe some of his wisdom too. All of them sensed something in her. And not one of them wanted to interrupt her.

"Personal strength; the drive to prove oneself in the face of adversity; the inability to rely on anyone but yourself – that's all Laxus has ever known. If one person alone fights him and wins, that won't change. It will only confirm his belief that individual power is the only thing worth having."

"So we have to beat him… without fighting him?" Natsu blinked. "Is that even a thing?"

"No, we do have to fight, because that is the only language that Laxus understands. However, what we need to do to save the guild isn't crush him with sheer magic power, because then he'll just go on not understanding. We need to show him what it really means to be a part of Fairy Tail; show him our belief in each other and in the guild itself. We've already accomplished much of this by dismantling his game and assembling everyone here, but the most important part is yet to come. We need to defeat Laxus together, as a guild.

"Fairy Tail is so much more than just a guild," she added, with the most beautiful smile. "And we are something far, far greater than the sum of our parts. This isn't the Battle _of_ Fairy Tail – it's the Battle _for_ Fairy Tail. We're fighting not just for our guild, but for everything we believe in. Let's show Laxus just how wrong he is about us. _That_ is how we will beat him at his own game."

Silence fell. As one, the gaze of the crowd shifted from Mira onto Natsu. Swept up in the flood of her feelings, she had been unaware of how raptly their attention had been directed at her; Natsu was all too aware of it. Somewhat embarrassed at having been unofficially nominated as the audience's spokesperson, he glanced away. "I think I get it," he muttered. "We'll do this together, alright?"

"That's all well and good," remarked Loke, "But how exactly are we going to pull this off, Mira? How are we supposed to prove the strength of the guild to Laxus if we can't even beat him in the first place? He's called the strongest in the guild for a reason, and Changeling isn't exactly helping our situation."

"It won't be easy," Mira confirmed. "Laxus is a terrifying opponent, more so than all of Phantom Lord combined. Resolve is necessary, but not sufficient. Strategy is the only thing that will allow us to take down enemies as strong as Laxus and the Raijinshuu." She looked pointedly towards Erza. There was no trace of their past rivalry there; Erza was simply the best person – well, cat – for the job.

Erza said, "The first step to turning the tables on Laxus is to take out the Raijinshuu. They tried to break our team, and they failed. Now it's our turn to break theirs, and show them the unity of the guild."

"How?" asked Happy, curiously.

A small smile, almost sinister, crossed Erza's face. She placed her hands on her hips. "The Raijinshuu have excellent teamwork. They train together, they fight together, and they spend almost all their time on missions together. They must have realized by now that the fact that they can't find any of us means that we're gathering somewhere, preparing to strike back. If they converge around Laxus, or meet up to hunt us down together, this battle is as good as over.

"Fortunately for us, right now, they're scattered all across Magnolia, and that means they're vulnerable. With Levy's help, we have the element of surprise, and if we're careful, we can keep them separated. We'll choose people whose magic puts them at an advantage against each member of the Raijinshuu, and send them to fight at locations of our choosing. We won't be caught off-guard. We'll dictate the terms of these fights ourselves."

"Heh," Natsu commented. "I like the sound of this."

"Of course, if Laxus reaches the hospital, it's game over. Defeating the Raijinshuu without letting him get close to us – that must be our goal. Levy, Warren – how's Gajeel holding out?"

"Not well." A look of alarm flashed across Levy's face. "His magic power is so low, he's dropping in and out of the system. He did ask Warren and I not to tell you this, but he's already given up any hope of winning – all he can do now is buy us a little more time. We need to get him out of there before he gets seriously hurt. Laxus isn't holding back."

"The only other person we have right now who can stand off against Laxus is Mystogan." Erza tactfully ignored Natsu's disgruntled protest. "Warren, can you get in touch with him?"

Silence filled the room as Warren touched his index and middle fingers to his forehead, screwing his eyes shut in concentration. There was complete silence in the room. Everyone was a part of this, hanging on to every twist unfolding in this complex game of strategy. When Warren shook his head, it seemed as if the entire room gave a collective sigh. "I'm not getting a response from him. Though, given how secretive he is, it's possible that he can hear me and is choosing not to respond."

"We can't know for sure. We'll have to go there in person and ask him to stall Laxus for us."

"We've got another problem," Levy spoke up. "The moment Mystogan stops fighting Freed, I'll lose control over his Jutsu Shiki. I'm not sure how long I can keep this up for as it is, but…"

"Don't worry about it, Levy," Erza assured her. "But just to be on the safe side, let's be ready to take over from Mystogan and engage Freed straight away. The best person to fight Freed would be…"

She tailed off, thinking hard. The others exchanged glances amongst themselves. Everyone knew and respected the strength of the Raijinshuu, and besides, Freed had been holding off against Mystogan – the only person who could come close to Laxus in terms of ability – for an awfully long time. After all, if he had had time to cast enchantments over the entire city, wouldn't he also have reinforced the location where he was hiding with as many dangerous traps as possible?

Jet gave voice to this sentiment: "If it's going to be a difficult fight, wouldn't it make more sense for as many of us to fight him as possible?"

"Against an ordinary opponent, perhaps," Erza countered. "Against Freed, no. I can say with certainty that he'll have rune traps set up around wherever he is. They'll be independent from the main Jutsu Shiki as well, most likely, so we can't even count on Levy's help. Given the nature of the ones we've seen, they're likely to be runes forcing people to fight each other, so he can always cut his number of opponents down to one without having to use any of his own magic power. And if Mystogan can't beat him on his own, it's unlikely any of us will be able to either. It's a tricky situation… no! We can do this with Changeling!"

"Because we don't register in the rune system?" Mira inquired.

"Precisely. We're immune to all his traps. Freed doesn't know – _probably_ doesn't know – a side effect of Changeling prevents his runes from detecting the confused magical presences of those affected by it."

"Probably?"

"He may have noticed Natsu and the others never appeared on the system when Gray and Lucy did, and figured out something was off. We have to be aware of that possibility. Having said that, if his runes were set up before this whole battle began, then it may be our only chance to negate his advantage. Natsu, Loke – you go."

"We can't," replied Loke. "We already switched back."

"Ah, I forgot." The light in Erza's eyes dimmed a little. "Alright. Change of plan-"

"No. We'll go."

It was Cana who had spoken. She folded Elfman's huge, muscled arms, daring anyone to challenge her proclamation. "What? Natsu isn't the only person in this guild, you know."

"But you… you're serious?"

Cana gave a wolfish grin. "I haven't been this sober in years, thanks to this man's weak constitution. Of course I'm serious."

"We're part of this guild too!" Elfman added. "We've been pretty useless so far without our magic, so the least we can do is fight Freed. Courage is what makes a Man!"

"…Even though you're currently a woman," muttered Happy.

Erza just smiled. "Very well. I'll leave Freed to you two."

"Erza-!" Mira interjected, alarmed, but the cat paid her no heed.

"Now that that's sorted, we just have Bickslow and Evergreen to deal with," Erza pressed on.

"I want to fight Bickslow," Natsu spoke up, suddenly.

Lucy turned to him, mystified. "Huh? Why?"

"Because running away from a fair fight like we did leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

"I agree with Natsu," Loke offered. "Lucy, let's go too, and beat him fair and square!"

"I suppose he did help us," admitted Lucy, a little doubtfully. "Why me, though? Can't you go on your own?"

"Nope." Grinning, Loke threw his arm around her shoulders, a little of his old confidence around women returning now that he had his own body back. "I'm your Spirit now. We fight together."

As Lucy exasperatedly extracted herself from his embrace, Erza gave them a questioning glance. "I suppose I'll ask later. Natsu, Loke and Lucy against Bickslow; fine. And the best person to fight Evergreen would be-"

It wasn't that she tailed off into mental deliberation this time – rather, she stopped so suddenly halfway through her sentence that everyone looked at her in alarm. "Erza, what's wrong?" checked Levy.

"The best person would be…"

"Who? Tell us already!" Natsu insisted.

Erza glanced down at the floor. "…Me. The best opponent against Evergreen is me. That is to say, Happy."

"Huh? Me?" Happy blinked. "Alright! Hear that, Natsu? I'm going to save Fairy Tail!"

Natsu sniggered, "Yeah, right."

"Hey! I'm a mage too! Go, Requip!"

"Don't!" shrieked Erza, but it was too late; light swirled around Happy and solidified into the form of a swimsuit.

Half the members of the guild, forgetting the perilous situation for just a moment, scrambled to catch a glimpse of Erza's body in a swimsuit, while the other half rolled their eyes. "How many different swimsuits does she have?" Lucy muttered. "With Happy's Random Requips, this is going to be a disaster…"

"No, that was intentional!" Happy protested. "I'll put on a show, and Evergreen will be so jealous of my body, she'll surrender!"

" _Don't you dare_ ," hissed Erza.

Mira gave voice to her doubts. "Erza, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"No. It is absolutely, without a doubt, the worst idea I have ever had, and the last thing I want is for it to go ahead… for him to fight as me. It's my fight, to be won with my magic." Her gaze drifted to Gray and Lucy; to Natsu and Loke. There was a flash of darkness in the cat's round eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared, leaving Mira to wonder if she had seen it at all. "But… if anyone else tries to fight Evergreen, they'll be helpless before the power of her Stone Eyes, just as Gray was describing to us. Only Happy, using my artificial eye, is immune. And if she has already used up a lot of her power in the fight against Gray, even Happy will be able to win, given the right armour. He's our best shot right now."

Beneath that emotionless logic was a whole world of suffering and acceptance; of putting the needs of the guild above her own feelings. If Erza was willing to concede the blow to her pride, and allow Happy to fight in her place, then it was a step in the right direction, wasn't it?

"Alright," confirmed Mira. "So, that's our away teams against the Raijinshuu sorted."

"Hang on a minute," Gray interjected. "What about the rest of us? Surely we're not just going to sit here while they fight!"

"Of course we're not," replied their feline strategist. "We're going to prepare to fight Laxus. Mystogan might beat him, but we've got to be ready for every eventuality. And besides… _I have a plan._ " Before anyone could ask, she raised her voice, and thrust her arm decisively into the air. "Alright! Away teams, move out! Those staying, assemble with me! The Battle for Fairy Tail begins now!"

* * *

Gray sat alone on the windowsill, lost in thought. On his outstretched palm there rested a small sphere of ice, constantly breaking apart into magic and reforming again. To an outsider, it would have seemed like a monotonous waste of Ice Make magic, but to Gray, every incarnation of the sphere was different.

It was harder to make a perfect sphere than he had thought, since perfection in curvature had never mattered to him before. Forcing ice out of its natural crystalline shape and bending it smoothly without applying any external pressure demanded a different kind of control from his magic. Freeze it slowly; freeze it from the inside out – prevent air bubbles from being trapped within his structures, acting as impurities, as weaknesses. And with every new sphere, the spot of sunlight the ice lens was focussing onto the windowsill changed in size and resolution. He observed with a sort of detached interest the effect of changing the radius, the effect of removing the impurities, the effect of merging it with the glass of the window-

"That's an interesting technique."

Gray jumped, the ice sphere shattering in his hand. He glanced up to see Mira stood before him.

"Sorry," she told him, apologetically. "I didn't mean to startle you." He gave an accepting grunt. Mira continued, "Mind if I join you?"

Shrugging, Gray shuffled up on the windowsill to let her climb up too, which she managed with some difficulty, owing to her short stature. When he didn't say anything, she prompted, "I haven't seen you do anything like that with Ice Make before. Is it a new spell?"

"It was just an idea. It didn't work, though. It failed me at the last minute, and I lost to Evergreen."

"Come to think of it, I never did thank you, did I?"

"Huh?"

"For fighting her so that I could get away. It's my fault you're so injured, since you were protecting me."

"But I lost!"

"If you hadn't bought me time back then, the whole plan with Erza, Levy and Warren would never have got off the ground. Thank you, Gray."

He blinked in surprise. "It wasn't enough, though! If I couldn't even beat Evergreen, how on earth am I going to fight Laxus?"

Mira gave him a bemused look. "You don't have to fight Laxus. That's the point."

"But if I don't, who else here is going to-?"

"No one in this guild can defeat Laxus," Mira smiled.

"I don't understand. What's Erza's plan? How are we going to beat him in a fair fight?"

"No one said _anything_ about a fair fight." At Gray's incredulous expression, Mira couldn't help but laugh. "Besides, the point isn't for us to win, but for Laxus to lose. Creativity and utility are what we need right now, not power, so I'm actually rather glad that you stayed behind, instead of a certain Dragon Slayer we both know… Not to mention, I think that new technique of yours is going to come in very handy indeed."

Mira jumped down from the windowsill and began walking back to Erza. "It doesn't work!" Gray called after her. "Don't go factoring it into any of your plans-!"

"You'll make it work, I'm sure of it. You just need to approach the problem from a different angle. That's what being a user of Make Magic is all about, isn't it?"

Gray stared after her, half-confused and half-exasperated. Then, heaving a sigh, he got to his feet and went to join Erza and the others.

* * *

Over by the centre of command, things were all go. Warren was relaying information from the away teams to Levy and Erza, who were issuing commands back to him, in between Erza's frequent and occasionally bizarre requests to the mages still in the room.

"I've dismantled all the barriers in the areas you requested, Erza," Levy said, earning herself an approving nod. "Neither Freed nor I will get any information from those locations, but since we're the ones setting the trap this time, keeping both sides in the dark is the best option for us."

"Update: Natsu's team have made contact with Bickslow outside the department store!" Warren reported.

"The department store?" Erza checked. "That will give Bickslow's magic the advantage."

Levy pulled a face. "That's my fault. I miscalculated how far he'd travelled since I trapped him. He must have found a way around the barriers that I hadn't accounted for." She raised the pen once again, her eyes never leaving the ever-changing screen of runes. "Want me to try and move them?"

"No. Don't worry about it. There's three of them; I'm sure they'll pull through. Warren, any word from Happy?"

There was a moment of intense concentration. "Not yet. No, wait! Yes! Evergreen – right where you predicted she'd be, Levy!" The blue-haired girl gave an exhausted smile. "Incoming message from Cana – they've found Freed! Mystogan's agreed to the plan – he's heading to intercept Laxus right now."

Erza let out the breath she had been holding. "Good. Everything's going according to plan."

"Wait! Freed's ignoring Cana's team and pursuing Mystogan! He won't let anyone get to Laxus!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Levy muttered. Placing her hand on Warren's shoulder, she hijacked his telepathic field. "Cana! Which road is Freed on?"

"He's crossing the bridge right now-" came the other's alarmed mental voice.

No need to ask which bridge she was referring to. Levy knew the map she was looking at like the back of her hand. Gritting her teeth, she forced her strained hand to write, scrawling great golden runes across the air in front of her and sending them flying up towards the right place on the map. There was a flash, and then the system accepted them – a curly, elegant golden phrase in the middle of a network of formal purple.

"Ha!" she crowed. "How's that for semantic incommensurability, Freed?"

"…Levy, I have literally no idea what you're talking about, but you are fantastic!" Cana exclaimed.

"What did you do?" asked Erza, intrigued.

"Oh, just something I've been working on over the past few minutes," grinned the girl, tired, and yet exhilarated. "A Justu Shiki wall in a variant of the language superficially similar to the one Freed's using, but fundamentally different; centred around a handful of crucial interdefined terms without common measure. Let's see how _he_ likes interpreting from scratch-"

All of a sudden, the exulted glow seemed to vanish from Levy's eyes. She slumped sideways – Jet and Droy caught her easily before she could fall from the bed, but it didn't stop their shouts of panic. The collection of runes in the air in front of her flickered and buzzed.

"Levy!" Mira shouted. "What's going on? Are you alright?"

Levy tried to smile; to reassure them. "Turns out… this is harder than I thought. I was so carried away, I wasn't even paying attention to my magic power… it's like getting caught up in a good book, you know?"

"Levy-"

"I'm sorry, Erza, everyone. I'm not sure I can do this for much longer."

"That's fine. You've done more than enough already, Levy. You can stop now."

"But… the others…"

"Believe in them," Erza told her, sincerely. "You do, don't you? They'll win, no matter what we do here."

"…Yeah," Levy acknowledged. The runes before her broke apart. Abandoning all sense of structure, they separated into intermediate forms, and then vanished altogether. "We've done our job… right?"

"Erza," Mira said suddenly. "It's not that I don't have faith in our away teams, but how on earth are Cana and my brother going to defeat Freed without Levy's help, when they don't have any usable magic to speak of between them?"

Erza's gaze flicked towards her one-time rival's, and then away again. "Don't worry. I have a plan for that, too."

"You…" A tremor ran through Mira's body. "You're not thinking – no!"

"We've got to win," said the other, steadfast; dark. "I'll bear the consequences for whatever happens myself."

"How could you even consider such a thing?" In desperation, Mira glanced around for help, but everyone except Erza just looked on in confusion. "Warren-? No! I'll go myself!"

"Mira!" Erza yelled, but the young woman was already running, pushing people out of the way in her haste to leave the room. "Oh, forget it. Let her go."

Doubtfully, Gray asked, "Erza, what's going on?"

But before the cat could reply, someone else entered through the door Mira had just fled through, shouting across the noise of the guild: Macao. "Erza! We're good to go here!"

"Excellent. Is the former Master back yet?"

Right on cue, the door swung open once again and he entered. "It's all clear," he told them. "For some reason, people are a lot more willing to negotiate with me when I look like Mira. They don't run away when they see me, for starters…"

The good news had launched Erza straight back into a better mood. "That's probably because when they normally see you, either you're delivering a letter of apology, or about to bring down accidental destruction on some important building. How did you manage it?"

"Oh, I told them we were preparing something big for the Fantasia Parade, and needed the space."

Gray remarked, "But Laxus already cancelled Fantasia."

"All the more reason for us to beat him and force him to un-cancel it," Erza insisted, with a sly grin.

"Erza!" Alzack and Bisca had re-joined the team in the room, both of them holding large wooden crates with warning signs on the side. "We got what you asked for. Though we had to charge the not insubstantial bill to Fairy Tail, so it'd better be worth it…"

"Good job, you two."

"Erza," Gray interjected, "What is all this stuff _for?_ Aren't we supposed to be preparing for a battle against Laxus?"

"That's exactly what we're doing. Hey, everyone, listen up!" Those who had split up to talk tactics or check on the injured obediently reassembled around Erza's bed. They waited to hear the rest of her plan: how a group of almost a hundred people with varying levels of magic power, fighting expertise, teamwork and health were going to take down a man who, just over a week ago, had single-handedly wiped out an entire guild.

 _You just need to approach the problem from a different angle_ , Mira had said.

"Alright," began Erza. "Here's the plan."

* * *

 _ **A/N:** So the Natsu/Loke storyline (fondly referred to in my plan as the "Run Away From Bickslow" mini-arc) has been properly resolved, and the Battle of Fairy Tail can finally resume. In my mind, this chapter is the pivotal one. All through the first arc (thanks to Changeling) the main characters were being dragged along through the plot by the actions of Phantom Lord, only just managing to survive through a combination of luck and last minute decisions. At the start of the second arc, that didn't really change. They were dropped straight into the deep end with the Battle of Fairy Tail, and between Gray's defeat, Natsu's worsening condition, and the chaos that had already seized the guild, it was all they could do just to stay afloat._

 _Now, for the first time, the good guys have taken control. Rather than simply responding to external forces, they will lead the way through the rest of the arc. Of course, this mindset isn't going to make it any easier for them to defeat Laxus and obtain their desired outcome, but they're reaching for the future that they want rather than just dealing with what fate has dished out to them, and that, as far as I'm concerned, is a massive step forwards. That's why this chapter is important even though very little actually happened... and that's probably why this little note turned into a bit of a rant. Oops._

 _Oh, and I swear to God there will be action next chapter. ~CS_


	15. In the Light of a Burning Sky

_**A/N:** Chapter Fifteen. As promised: Cana and Elfman vs. Freed; Natsu, Lucy and Loke vs. Bickslow; and Happy vs. Evergreen. One serious fight, one not-so-serious fight, and one fight that ended up short because this chapter was already far too long. Take your pick. ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Fifteen: In the Light of a Burning Sky**

From the moment the golden barrier of runes appeared to block Freed's path, Cana's heart was in her mouth. They were going to have to fight.

Neither she nor Elfman had hesitated to put themselves forward for this battle. Though they weren't particularly close in the guild and had little in common, that was something they had both agreed on – they were fed up of being overlooked while everyone else was fighting.

At first, with the war against Phantom Lord raging, Cana had been happy to sit out the worst of the action until a cure for Changeling had been found, but that was no longer an option. The others who had been affected in just the same way as she and Elfman weren't letting the curse stop them. Gray and Lucy had saved the entire guild from the Jupiter Cannon; Natsu, who wouldn't be held back by anything, had – no matter how quickly he had been defeated – challenged both Gajeel and Laxus in his powerless state.

Because they had done nothing, they had been overlooked; ignored; forgotten about. Neither of them were as crazy as Natsu was, but they still had their pride. Everyone else was fighting despite Changeling, so when the chance to prove themselves had arisen, they hadn't thought twice about seizing it.

Now, however, facing down the man who had held out for a tie against the legendary Mystogan, Cana was beginning to think that maybe there had been a less suicidal way for them to prove their courage.

The battlefield was a deceptively simple one: since Levy had blocked the bridge for them, they and their opponent were confined to the grassy bank on this side of the river. The terrain should have been neutral ground, advantageous to neither side, except that this was Freed's chosen battlefield, and he had prepared to fight to the very end here. The ground was covered in criss-crossing lines of runes. Some glittered in ominous purple, a stark reminder of the chaotic brawl that had taken place in the centre of town. Others did not shine at all, but were visible only as dead scorch marks carved onto the earth by the last of their magic as they had burned out, most likely after having been destroyed, overcome or otherwise negated by Mystogan as he had attempted to fight his way through to their caster. She did not have the expertise of the elusive S-Class Mage; she couldn't even begin to work out the purpose of the runes, let alone know how to counter them. If Changeling failed to prevent the traps from springing on them, they were done for.

And it seemed as though they and their opponent were in agreement about their chances of winning. Freed was paying them little attention. He had his back to them, gazing up at the wall of runes that blocked his path. Apart from the bright golden colour, they looked identical to the runes he himself had cast, but if that was the case, they surely wouldn't be causing him so much trouble. He was whispering to himself as his eyes raced over the floating letters – reading, perhaps, or thinking out loud. He was clearly determined to stop Mystogan from reaching Laxus, even though the former had long since disappeared from view.

"Hey, Freed!" yelled Elfman, who wasn't happy about being ignored. "We're your opponents here! Face us like a Man!"

"What are you on about?" Cana grumbled. "Let's seize this chance while we can!"

Without waiting for his response, she began running towards Freed. The rune traps remained dormant beneath her feet. Erza's assessment had been right: unable to make sense of her magical presence, they simply did not activate against her. At least she could push them to the back of her mind and focus on how on earth she was going to win this fight.

Using magic was completely out of the question – she had seen what had happened when Makarov had attempted a Take Over, and she had nowhere near his level of magic power or experience. Even so, there were some advantages to having Elfman's body. He was physically much stronger than she was, and faster too. As they ran towards their opponent, she easily outpaced him, reaching Freed first and throwing a powerful punch towards the back of his head.

Cana had been going for speed, not stealth; she wasn't surprised when Freed ducked under her blow at the last moment. He retaliated swiftly before she had chance to recover, elbowing her in the stomach and springing away. Thanks to Elfman's rock-hard muscles, the bare-handed attack had probably hurt Freed more than it had her, and now she had his attention.

It wasn't as if Cana was a novice in hand-to-hand fighting – anyone who couldn't hold their own in a physical brawl wouldn't last five seconds in one of Fairy Tail's parties, and she was one of the most ferocious partiers in the guild. In addition, she had had a week of construction work to grow accustomed to Elfman's height, weight and balance. She pushed Freed back with a rapid flurry of blows, giving him no time to focus on his magic, let alone try to decipher Levy's rune barrier. The two fought at close quarters in front of the bridge. Cana wondered if the battle with Mystogan had exhausted Freed more than he was willing to show. If she could stop him from using magic, they'd be on an equal footing. She might even be able to win.

Meanwhile, Elfman, who had to use all his willpower to stop himself from jumping in at the start of the fight, had finally drawn Cana's deck of magic cards and was shuffling through them hastily. "Lightning… lightning…" he muttered, trying to remember what Cana had taught him. He would be the first to admit that complicated magic wasn't his strong point, but in a physical fight he would just be a liability, and he liked the idea of losing even less. "Aha! Cana, stand back!"

"Huh?" She glanced over, just in time to see Elfman raise the three cards he had found towards the sky. "Wait-!"

She wasn't fast enough. "Lightning! Reverse tower! The lovers! _Jolt of Fate!_ " Elfman roared with his usual enthusiasm. The three cards in his hand began to glow; as Cana threw herself to the side, lightning raced towards her and Freed. She hit the ground, rolled, and jumped to her feet, glancing around for her opponent.

Elfman ran to her side. "Did I get him?"

"Weren't you even watching?" she demanded, but then she gave a rare smile. "You actually remembered the combination I told you. I'm impressed."

Before Elfman could reply, they were interrupted by the sound of coughing. As the dust from the destruction cleared, they could see Freed stood in a shallow crater, smoke rising from his maroon overcoat. "Your lightning is nothing on Laxus's," he murmured, drawing his sword and pointing it towards the two of them with one fluid motion.

Cana grinned, trying to appear more confident than she felt. "It's about time you started taking us seriously. Elfman, let's do this!"

"Providing support is a Man's job!" Elfman carelessly tossed away the three cards he had been holding, ignoring Cana's gasp of protest, and drew a handful more. Springing forwards, he flung them like projectiles towards his opponent.

Freed's one visible eye narrowed slightly. Then the thin blade in his hand became a blur of motion, shredding the magical cards before they could get close to him. But Cana was already there, following up the ranged volley with a fierce kick to Freed's chest that he didn't have time to block. He stumbled backwards and she followed it up with another blow, yelling out her victory.

Except the opening was a feint. Freed was perfectly in control. Once, twice; that blade flashed faster than the eye could see, cutting two deep gashes into Cana's muscled arm. She cried out and Freed seized his chance, driving the hilt of his blade into her stomach.

"Cana!" Elfman shouted, frantically searching through his deck to find anything that would be of use. "There's got to be something here… Justice… The Hanged Man… Death!" He thrust the last card out towards Freed in desperation. "Death, that's got to be powerful magic, right? Come on! Do something!"

"That's not how it works, I _told_ you!" Cana shouted back, struggling to her feet with her injured arm clutched tightly to her chest. "Reverse it, and add Heaven-"

"I won't let you," said Freed, quietly. Beneath the curtain of green hair concealing his right eye, deep violet light flared. He slashed his sword through the air in front of him, leaving a trail of purple runes in its wake, which flew towards Cana. "Dark Écriture: Pain."

Cana screamed. It was an awful sound. Even Elfman found himself recoiling in horror at her pain, the cards falling from his limp hands. "Cana-!" Freed just glanced at him with that single, dispassionate eye. "You'll pay for that!" Elfman roared. Abandoning trying to work out Cana's magic, he turned instinctively to what he knew best: letting his fists do the talking.

As he charged towards Freed, the rune mage simply swept his sword towards Elfman, generating a line of shimmering letters on the ground between them. Yet the other was utterly fearless; where most would have hesitated out of fear of the unknown repercussions from crossing that line, he didn't even flinch. One long stride carried him straight over. Nothing happened. Freed's eyes widened but Elfman didn't even notice, subconsciously seizing that moment of surprise to land a solid punch and send the other sprawling backwards along the ground.

Had he been himself at that moment, with Beast Arm active, that would have finished it. However, thanks to the crippling effects of Changeling, he couldn't enhance his fists with magic power of any kind, and all he could land on Freed without it were superficial blows. Even as he tried to drive home his advantage, the other was already on his feet – and in the sky, wings of violet runes carrying him just out of Elfman's reach.

"So, that's how you've been doing it," Freed mused, still in that quiet, detached voice. "I did wonder why some of you were never detected by my Jutsu Shiki. It seems it must be the work of this Changeling spell Laxus mentioned. Ah, so that's why the two of you came out to confront me, even without magic. I understand now. However, it won't be enough."

"Elfman!" Cana suddenly shouted. He had forgotten about her; he turned just in time to catch the three cards she threw to him. Crouched on the floor, unable to stand from the after-effects of Freed's spell, she had still scavenged the correct combination from the cards he had discarded, and even now was trying to fight.

"Alright!" he cheered. Seizing the cards, he held them up towards Freed. "Heaven, Reverse Death, and Mountain! Summoned-"

Before he could finish, a barrier of runes rose up in front of him. It spread out in both directions, under its caster's watchful eye, and curved to form four walls surrounding him and Cana. "-Lightning?" Elfman finished anyway, confused. The green bolts which emerged from his raised hand struck the runes and rebounded, three of them lodging into Elfman's chest and another two striking Cana.

As the two of them cried out in pain, Freed closed his eyes. "If that girl could rewrite my runes, what made you think I wouldn't be able to change them myself? This spell does not operate by detecting magic power. The barrier will persist until only one of you is conscious."

"That's despicable!" Elfman roared. He pounded his fists against the barrier, to no avail. Those floating letters may as well have been a wall of solid concrete.

"Fight each other, in accordance with the rules of the Battle of Fairy Tail. I will fight the winner."

"As if we'd do something like that!" Elfman yelled back. "Don't be ridiculous!"

"Then wait in there until the battle is over. It matters not to me. I shall go and stop Mystogan." With that, Freed dropped to the ground, his wings vanishing, and turned his attention back to the golden wall of Levy's which continued to defy him.

Elfman and Cana glanced at each other. "I'll find us a way out of here," Elfman said, with far more conviction than he felt. He gathered up the scattered cards within the barrier, and began flicking through them.

Cana had no such hope. She knew the invincibility of Freed's Jutsu Shiki, and even more so, she knew the limitations of her own Card Magic. Resignedly, she touched two fingers to her forehead, activating the mental link that Warren's Telepathy Magic had kept open. "Erza, can you hear me?"

The reply came immediately, Erza's voice echoing in her mind. "What's the situation, Cana?"

"It's over. Freed has trapped the two of us, and we can't get out unless we fight and one of us is knocked unconscious. Erza, I'm sorry. We've failed."

There was silence. Cana felt a growing pit of dread in her stomach. She had let the guild down, hadn't she? Erza and the others had been counting on her and Elfman, and they had-

"That's okay. I thought something like this would happen."

"You thought? Then…"

"Yes, I have an idea. Cana, listen to me."

"Okay."

Erza whispered four words – and Cana stilled immediately. She had to be joking, but then Erza didn't joke around at the best of times, least of all over such an important matter… did she? Just to be on the safe side, Cana asked, "You're not serious, right?" She was fully prepared to be berated for missing the obvious sarcasm, and when the reprimand didn't come, she felt her anxiety deepen.

Elfman glanced at her, having only just noticed that she was talking to someone. "Cana, what's going on? Is it Erza?"

"I am completely serious," Erza replied, and there was nothing in her mental voice to suggest otherwise. "It's the only way to clear the conditions of the barrier and stop Freed."

"But…" Faced by such a crazy proposition, Cana floundered. "That's insane! If I do that… I mean- just look at what happened to our old Master-!"

"I know. It's your choice to make, Cana. I'll leave it in your hands."

And with that, Erza terminated the mental link. Wide-eyed, Cana glanced around without really seeing anything. The impenetrable wall of runes. Elfman, innocent and bemused. And there was someone else too, running towards them along the riverbank, waving her arms wildly in greeting or perhaps in warning – Mira. Had Erza told her what she was planning? Elfman and Mira, the two people she least wanted to be around if she was really going to try something like this. Not that she was considering it. It was the height of madness for Erza to even suggest it.

Even so… would it really be worse than admitting defeat; conceding her own weakness? Cana's gaze fell once more upon Freed. From where he was standing, the Fairy Tail symbol decorating the hilt of his sword was all too visible. How _dare_ he?

She stood up. The trembling in her muscles from Freed's spell of pain had almost subsided. The only thing holding her back now was her own weakness; her own fear. And yet, for the first time since Changeling, there was something that only she could do to help her guild. It was utterly preposterous, but then again, what better word could you choose to describe Fairy Tail's very existence?

"Elfman," Cana murmured. "I'm sorry."

"Huh?" He blinked at her, not understanding. "No, it's not your fault, we'll get out of here-"

"Cana, _no!_ " Mira was close enough now for the breeze to carry her voice to the two of them. The thunderous edge of Makarov's commanding tones was undermined by the sheer desperation in her words. "Please, don't do it!"

"Cana?" Elfman wondered.

"I'm sorry," she repeated. "But we have to win. Take Over: Beast Soul!"

* * *

Anyone who thought Natsu, Lucy and Loke would be having better luck against their opponent had clearly never seen the three of them trying to coordinate as a team before.

Oh, they had got off to a promising start. They had encountered Bickslow outside Magnolia's biggest department store – a few streets away from where Levy had thought he would be, true, but finding him before he could meet up with his allies had been the important thing. They had thanked him again for helping them out, apologized for their disgraceful conduct in running away from him multiple times, and challenged each other to a fair fight to prove the strength of Fairy Tail. Bickslow seemed a bit put out at having three opponents at once, as it wasn't part of Laxus's plan – but protecting Fairy Tail trumped all other concerns; the gratitude of the three didn't extend to reinstating Laxus's rules. Thus, the battle had begun. So far, so good.

Except both Natsu and Loke were used to fighting one-on-one. Having an additional ally wasn't helpful – they simply got in each other's way at the most inopportune times. Lucy had been content to sit this one out, and the three combatants seemed happy to ignore her, but neither Loke nor Natsu would back down and let the other take the lead. Both felt as if they owed it to Bickslow to fight, and also to themselves – Natsu had to prove he was the strongest in Fairy Tail, and Loke had to show off the power and the new lease of life he had gained since his confrontation with the Spirit King. While their individual resolves were admirable, they seemed to be disrupting each other's magic just as much as they were hitting Bickslow, and not even noticing. It was chaos. With an exasperated smile, Lucy supposed that was just what those boys were like – far too excitable, especially when it came to fighting.

Natsu had been kicked through the ground-floor window of the department store some time ago and had yet to reappear. Loke and Bickslow had somehow managed to end up on the roof of the multi-storey building, fighting it out hand-to-hand and trying not to fall. Lucy looked wistfully up at them from the ground, unsure of whether to try and find her own way up or just wait for them to return to a more sensible altitude for a battle. She wondered privately if the other away teams were having more luck. Bickslow was not an opponent to be underestimated; if they couldn't use the three-on-one situation to their advantage, it might well be their group, the most powerful of the away teams, which let the side down.

That being said… they looked like they were having fun. There was no hostility in this fight. Sure, both sides were going all-out, but it was a match of respect. This no longer felt like a battle to determine the fate of Fairy Tail. It was about colleagues testing each other's strength. This was how Fairy Tail was supposed to be – Natsu and Gray at present; Mira and Erza in the past; even Laxus, to some extent. If only that was all that rested on the outcome here. If only this whole affair could just have been an innocent battle to determine the strongest in the guild.

Natsu jogged past her, paused, and retraced his steps to wave a hand in front of Lucy's face. "Hey! Lucy! We're in the middle of a battle here; don't space out!"

He was promptly hit from behind by a laser blast from one of Bickslow's dolls. "Speak for yourself…" Lucy murmured, as Natsu sprung back to his feet and brushed himself down, not at all fazed by the impact. His eyes darted around for the little floating totem that had hit him, but it had zoomed off out of his reach.

"Hang on a minute, Lucy. Don't you have that new Horse Spirit who could shoot those dolls down?"

"Well, I _do_ , but…"

"But?"

Lucy pointed angrily at Loke. "I can't summon any other Spirits while he's here, and he's refusing to leave!"

"Oh." Then Natsu gave a sudden grin. There were tiny shards of glass in his hair, and when he moved his head, they shimmered like a transient halo. "Guess I'll do this myself then! Where's Happy when you need him?"

Lucy followed his glance up to the two of them, duelling atop the roof. "How did they even get up there in the first place?"

Except Natsu's attention had already drifted elsewhere. He eyed Bickslow's dolls as they came around for another attack, and his grin became devious. "I've got a great plan!"

"I hate it when you say that…"

"Watch me, Lucy!" One little totem plunged down to sneak in a hit; Natsu sprung to the side with inhuman reflexes. Then, as the doll shot through where he had been standing, he turned, jumped, and grabbed it with both hands. It dipped alarmingly, and Natsu's feet scraped along the ground. But the magic empowering the small wooden totem was potent, and when it rose up to join its companions, it carried him with it. Lucy couldn't keep a smile off her face. Natsu's greatest strength wasn't his legendary Dragon Slayer magic – it was his ability to take utterly ludicrous plans and actually make them work.

On the roof, with the fierce breeze whipping through his shaggy hair, Loke ducked under a stray blast of magic and tried to strike back at Bickslow. The other dodged easily, pirouetting dangerously close to the edge of the roof, yet perfectly in control. Distracted by his agility, Loke only just managed to block a kick from the other with crossed arms. Without the stable strength of the lion flowing once again through his veins, that one might have sent him flying.

"You've become stronger since we last fought," Loke observed out loud. Bickslow's weakness had always been his physical capabilities, but here he was, holding his own while at the same time using his dolls to distract Natsu and Lucy. However, he could also see something Bickslow could not. There was a person hanging from one of the rapidly approaching dolls – and there was only one person he knew who would attempt something so completely ridiculous. Smiling inwardly, Loke tried to affect his usual cool manner, not giving away any hints of what he could see behind Bickslow.

"Of course!" The other laughed, a sound that bordered on creepiness with its wild abandon. "For Laxus, I'll prove the strength of the Raijinshuu!"

"But I'm stronger too," Loke continued. He hoped his apparent confidence would stop Bickslow from working out he was merely buying time. "Thanks to Natsu and Lucy, I have my powers back. And there's another thing we have that you don't have…"

"Oh? And what might that be, huh?"

Any moment now, Natsu would be in the perfect place for a surprise attack. Loke gave a victorious laugh. "Teamwork! Natsu, now!"

Except, to his horror, the surprise attack never came. The doll sailed harmlessly past, carrying Natsu along with it. " _Natsu!_ " Loke yelled. "What are you playing at?"

Now that he could get a closer look, Natsu didn't look too good. White knuckles had a death-grip on that small flying object, as if they wouldn't let go for anything. The rest of his body hung completely limp. Each minor change of direction sent him swaying from side to side. From what they could see, his face seemed to have gone an ugly shade of purple. Loke's eyes widened. Was this a side-effect of the magic Bickslow used to control the dolls? Or-?

"Natsu!" Lucy's shriek of disbelief rose up from the ground like a startled flock of birds. "That's _blatantly_ not transportation!"

"You have _got_ to be kidding me…" muttered Loke.

Natsu's pitiful whisper drifted to them on the wind. "I think I'm gonna die…"

Lucy had her head in her hands. Loke heaved a sigh. Bickslow just laughed, the situation too bizarre even for him to deal with. Shaking his head, he said, "That's enough playing around. I'll beat you quickly, and go join up with Laxus."

"I won't let you! Regulus Impact!" A surge of power ran along Loke's arm; though it had been a while since he had been able to use his own magic like this, it came to him as easily as it always had.

"Too slow," Bickslow smirked, raising his visor.

Loke didn't have a chance to react. Immediately, his body began to freeze as he looked into those green-glowing eyes, as if the ability to move had been suddenly removed from his limbs. Control was snatched away from him. It was a vivid reminder of the fear he had felt when his physical form had first started to vanish – and yet with Natsu's help, that fear had been surpassed; he had moved on. He had overcome worse than this.

Gathering the last of his strength, he yelled, "LUCY!"

She knew immediately what he wanted. Loke had warned her beforehand what might happen if Bickslow used his Figure Eyes, and what she needed to do without hesitation if he did. "Gate of the Lion! Forced Closure!" she commanded.

The golden key in her hand blazed brilliantly in response to her will, overriding the control Bickslow had over her friend. A moment later, Loke also began to shine, the first outward sign that he wasn't as human as he appeared, and then his body was merely sparkles of golden celestial magic, scattered by the wind. She heard his whispered thanks as Loke returned to his own world, freed from Bickslow's magic.

"Impressive," mused Bickslow, snapping his visor shut again. "But how will you stop me now, Cheerleader Lucy?"

"Don't call me-" she began, but tailed off as the rest of his words hit home. She had just sent Loke home, and could expect no help from Natsu, who was still clinging onto the zigzagging doll for dear life. Dubiously, she took a step backwards as Bickslow jumped from the roof. At his command, the other four dolls supported his hands and feet, allowing him to descend slowly and safely to the ground.

"Umm," said Lucy, without conviction. "Maybe we could talk about this…"

"Come, my babies!" Bickslow crowed. "Line Formation!"

Fine. If that was how he wanted to do things, then so be it. Loke was out and Natsu was currently incapacitated, but she was a mage too. As all four of Bickslow's free dolls lined up to shoot a wave of energy at her, she jumped to the side in the nick of time. She knew which key she was holding without even looking; she had summoned Taurus in a burst of golden light before her feet had even touched the ground.

The Bull Spirit charged forwards, bringing his axe down in a crushing blow in an attempt to cleave through all four dolls at once. To Lucy's dismay, though, they scattered easily, too fast for even Taurus to hit. A moment later all four of them released bursts of green energy towards him from all sides – an attack the Spirit couldn't hope to dodge. His body shattered into celestial light as he returned regretfully to his own world.

Grimacing at how easily Taurus had been defeated, Lucy ran straight for Bickslow, her whip in her hands. She had hoped to catch him by surprise – before he could make any more sarcastic remarks about her choice of weapon – but he was far too agile for that. He flipped over the whip like an acrobat, landing comfortably on one hand before turning himself the right way up. As his dolls began to converge upon her, she felt a stab of panic.

The fifth doll and its passenger still lurked above them in the sky. "Lucy?" Natsu mumbled, the very effort of speaking sending a wave of dizziness through him and almost causing him to lose his grip on the totem. His hands tightened reflexively around it, ignoring the splinters driving into his palms. And then an idea came to him and his heart lurched in his chest – not that he could actually tell, above the violent motion of his whole body and that nauseous feeling worse than death that blotted out everything else, even fear. Especially fear. Even he might not have been able to take the plunge in a rational frame of mind, but right then he could do it without considering the consequences.

Natsu let go. With every metre that he fell, he felt his wits returning. The vicious wind tore at him from one direction only; a sign that his motion was finally under control. Falling, flying – it was all the same. That exhilarating feeling banished the hazy effect of motion sickness. Now, all he had to-

His fall was abruptly broken by something soft. "Huh?" he wondered. "What's this?"

"It's _me_ ," Lucy hissed from underneath him. "All this empty space, and you had to go and land on me? Seriously, another three feet that way and you'd have got our opponent, but _no_ …"

Bickslow crowed, "Two in one hit, yeah! Line Formation, attack!"

With Natsu still lying dazed across her back, Lucy couldn't possibly dodge the line of energy which swept towards them. One hand curled around her ring of keys; she could only hope that her plea would be heard. "Virgo! Please!"

And the ground dropped away beneath them. Lucy briefly found herself falling as the blast of energy passed harmlessly over her head, and then abruptly she was sandwiched once again between the solid earth and Natsu's not insignificant weight. All the air left her body in a rush.

Though they had only fallen a few feet, the cylindrical hole which had appeared to save them blocked out most of the sunlight. Even as Lucy glanced up towards that circle of light, a shadow fell across it as Virgo stuck her head over to gaze with pretend curiosity at the two of them, tangled up together at the bottom of the hole. "Is this a new form of punishment, Princess?" she asked, without an ounce of honest innocence. "Should I join you down there?"

"Oh, stop it," Lucy glared back. Natsu groaned and stirred on top of her, prompting her to dig an elbow into whichever part of him she could reach. "Natsu, get off me already! And watch where you're putting your hand!" This last part became an indignant shriek which culminated in a solid kick, driving Natsu straight up into the air and out of the hole.

"Nice kick, Princess," intoned Virgo. Lucy didn't like the gleam in the Celestial Spirit's eyes. "You've been practising, I see."

"What's that supposed to mean?" an affronted Lucy demanded, but the Spirit had vanished back to her own world. She sighed. Even though the other couldn't hear, she whispered it anyway: "Thank you, Virgo."

By the time she made it out of the hole herself, Natsu and Bickslow were engaged in an intense battle. Now that it was one-on-one, with no other distractions, Natsu's true strength was beginning to show through at last. However, that didn't mean she couldn't support him from the sidelines.

As Bickslow vaulted over a jet of flame, he raised his hands to the sky, issuing a gleeful command to his dolls: "Baryon Formation!"

"Not on my watch!" Lucy retaliated. Hesitation gone, the key she needed was already in her hand. "Gate of the Archer, I open thee! Sagittarius!"

It would be quite some time before she got used to the strange appearance of the Spirit she had acquired on Galuna Island. Part soldier, with his green tunic and pristine bow and arrows; part court jester, with his unusual striped shorts; and part cosplayer, with his bizarre pantomime horse outfit over the top – eccentric would have been a polite way to describe his attire. Yet none of that changed the fact that he was an excellent archer, and a loyal and friendly Spirit.

"At your service, moshimoshi!"

"Please shoot down Bickslow's dolls!"

Sagittarius gave a firm nod. Drawing back his bow, he released five arrow in quick succession. Each one travelled faster than the eye could see – an instant later, all five of Bickslow's totems had shattered into light, while the energy they had been gathering to launch at Natsu dissipated back into the air.

"My babies! How could you do such a horrible thing?"

Natsu could only grin at Bickslow's distressed wail. "Nice, Lucy! Now take this: Wing Slash of the Fire Dragon!"

A direct hit from Natsu's fire sent his opponent reeling backwards, though he refused to fall. Natsu approached him with confidence, fire gathering around his raised fist. "Admit defeat. Without your dolls, you can't beat me!"

But to his surprise, Bickslow only grinned. With another crazy laugh, he gestured to the department store behind him. "That would be true, if you'd destroyed my babies. But that horse cosplayer merely destroyed their bodies. As long as their souls exist, I can just move them to new bodies – and there's a whole treasure trove of potential dolls right here!"

Lucy took a step back. "No!"

"Yes! Come forth, my new babies!"

A whole minute passed in silence.

"…Should they be here by now?" Lucy ventured to ask.

"I don't understand! There should be plenty of mannequins for my dolls' souls to inhabit in there!"

"…Oh," said Natsu. "Right. That might be my fault."

Lucy snapped, "What did you do?"

He immediately jumped away from her, raising his hands defensively. "It was an accident, okay? When I got flung in there earlier, I couldn't find the way out, and I… umm… might have started a fire in the stock room trying to blast my way out through the wall…"

"You did _what?_ " Lucy stared at him, aghast. Only now that she was looking for them could she see the thin trails of smoke escaping from the windows of the department store, and sense the faint magic of the water lacrima as they activated in an attempt to put out the fire.

"You destroyed all of the beautiful dolls!" accused Bickslow. "You'll pay for this!"

"I _told_ you!" Natsu shouted back, fire spiralling all around his body. "It was an accident!"

He chose to punctuate this denial with an enraged punch to Bickslow's chest. His Dragon Slayer magic, reacting to his agitated emotions, sent his enemy flying back into the side of a nearby house. The wall cracked but held. Bickslow wasn't so sturdy; there was an unsettling crunching sound, and he slumped down to lie unconscious at its foot. "Oops…" said Natsu.

The battle was over. Thanking Sagittarius, Lucy closed his Gate and returned the ring of keys to her belt. She considered calling Loke again, but he would probably be back on his own when he had recovered from being hit by Bickslow's magic. Instead, she went to stand at Natsu's side, as he surveyed the burning building with an anxious look in his eyes. The flames of a Dragon Slayer would take some time to extinguish, even with water magic. With any luck, the fire department would already be on their way here. They might even be able to stop the building from completely collapsing.

"Look on the bright side," Lucy commented helpfully. "If the new Master doesn't kill you, the old one certainly will."

Natsu mused, detachedly, "You know what, Lucy? I think now would be an excellent time to pack up and go somewhere very far away. Maybe Crocus. I've always wanted to go to Crocus. And there are so many people there that Gramps might never find me…"

Grinning, Lucy punched him lightly on the arm. "You'd really leave and pass up your chance of fighting Laxus?"

It only took a split-second of consideration to change Natsu's mind. "Heh. Of course not. Let's go find that bastard and show him who's the strongest!"

* * *

It was surprisingly quiet in the mage-only inpatient facility of Magnolia Hospital.

The earlier crowd had almost completely dissipated. All the members of Fairy Tail were scattered across the local area, rushing to complete the tasks Erza had set them before they ran out of time: ensuring everyone had followed the evacuation order; scouting out advantageous locations to fight in; hastily barricading windows with scavenged wooden planks; dragging certain barrels and crates to the crucial point Erza had designated – the place where they would stand or fall. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to any of this, but they were leaving nothing to chance. The outcome was simply too important for that.

Apart from the odd person running in to report that a task had been completed or to check some minor detail of the plan, there was only a constant core of three people in the room – Erza, Warren, and Levy. The cat was trying to hide her agitation by immersing herself in a street map of Magnolia that was almost five times as tall as she was, stretched out between two beds. Warren had the most difficult job. He was in communication with almost everyone on the ground via a wide telepathic field created by his magic, relaying the most important information to Erza and trying to deal with as many problems as possible himself. Organizing anything on this scale would be simply impossible without his talents.

Even so, the third person provided a stark reminder of what might happen if they relied too much on him alone. Levy lay on the bed next to them in exhaustion. Physically she was unhurt; mentally, she was depressed, punishing herself for running out of magic power when they could have used the Jutsu Shiki to their advantage. She would be fine after a little time had passed, but the failure of her magic had been a vital warning to Erza. Warren's power was great, but not infinite. Her strategy shouldn't be dependent on it. She was already beginning to put together a plan for how they could communicate without magic during the final battle if necessary…

"Word from the former Master." Warren's gentle voice interrupted Erza's reverie. "The Mayor has agreed. Stage Three has the green light. He's heading back here now."

"Good. Any news from Bisca?"

"She's in position to observe Laxus and Mystogan, but she's well out of the way of the magic they're throwing around. We'll know the outcome of that fight as soon as it's over."

Erza nodded once. "Anything from the away teams?"

"I can't get through to Natsu's team or Elfman's team any more. If they're fighting, it's likely that the disturbance of their magic is interfering with my telepathy at such a large distance. But, Erza…"

"What?"

"Happy is in trouble."

Erza said nothing.

Warren continued, "He's not used to fighting, let alone to doing so with your magic. He says that Evergreen is particularly mad as well. She really wanted to fight you over the title of Fairy Queen or something ridiculous like that, and she's taken you sending Happy out there in your body to fight her as a personal affront. Apparently, she's so angry, she even destroyed the fish he offered her as an apology."

He smiled at this, having relayed it only in the hope of eliciting a response from Erza – to no avail. Her eyes grew even darker; even less like those of the Erza he knew. "I suppose it was only to be expected," she said dispassionately.

Levy spoke up all of a sudden. Her startled accusation shattered the serenity of the hospital ward. It didn't deserve to be so peaceful, after all – it was now Command Central; Field HQ.

"Erza, did you _want_ Happy to lose?"

The cat's eyes narrowed. It was only a tiny motion, but both Levy and Warren saw it. "Of course not. I want Evergreen to be defeated."

"But not by him, right?" Levy hoped for a firm denial, but received only the silence she was expecting. "Erza, you could help. No one can Requip like you can. If you tell him which armours to use, you can-"

"It won't make a difference."

"It's unlike you to be spiteful."

"That's not it!"

Even though Erza rounded on her angrily, Levy didn't flinch. "You're upset, we get it. I mean, I can't even imagine how frustrating it must be to be stripped of your magic and forced to become a cat. But that doesn't change who you are, Erza, does it? The Erza I know would never want one of her friends to lose! She would be doing everything she could to help, no matter the cost to herself!"

Erza was silent for a long time. Brooding. Dark. Hostile. When she spoke, it was in a whisper. "If Happy becomes able to Requip like I can, and defeats the enemies that are mine to defeat, and protects the guild in my place… if a _cat_ becomes able to do all of that… then what's the point in my existence?"

A wild idea came to Levy, and she almost leapt out of the bed in excitement. "Don't you get it, Erza? This is where the two of you swap back!"

"What?"

"If you help Happy use your magic; if you fight together, you'll undo Changeling!"

" _What?_ " Erza repeated, more urgently.

"Levy, did you work that out from the text on the poster?" wondered Warren, the intensity of the girls' conversation having dragged him away from the chaos of the voices in his head.

Levy shook her head. "I don't know for sure. But wasn't that how Lucy and Gray managed it? I heard they taught each other their magic, and when Gray showed her how to make the Mirror Wall, they overcame the effects of Changeling." With as much conviction as she could muster, she reiterated, "This is your chance, Erza! Help Happy to win this fight, and you'll switch back, I just know it."

"…Very well." Erza turned her sharp gaze to Warren. "Warren, do you mind…?"

"Go ahead. This is the most important thing right now." She couldn't easily reach his shoulder, but he placed his hand on the bed next to her. With her little blue paw resting on the palm of his hand, she could access the mental network he had established.

"Happy, it's Erza. Can you hear me?"

* * *

 _It's happening again._

That was the only thought in Mira's mind. The paralyzing despair overwhelmed everything, even her instinct to flee. This was the darkness she had thought to be deadened by time, suppressed within her memories – alive and real and furious; a hand of ice closing around her fluttering heart.

 _It's happening again._

The rune barrier shattered. After all, its conditions had been met. To fight each other until only one of them remained conscious – well, there was only one human consciousness remaining within it now, wasn't there?

Even if that hadn't been the case, Beast Soul would have put an end to the barrier anyway. The rectangular prison had been large enough to trap two humans; it was not sufficient to contain one human and one monster. That was what Cana had willingly become, after all. The beast towered above them, a muscled, humanoid monster, covered in unnatural dark green and maroon fur. Above a shaggy white mane, two great golden horns protruded towards the sky. Its claws were probably large enough to slice a man in two. The red glint in its eyes, utterly devoid of recognition, suggested that it wanted nothing more than to test that theory.

"No…" Elfman whispered. The expression on his face was one of abject horror. "CANA, NO!"

It glanced at him- no, _she_ glanced at him; he _had_ to keep thinking of that thing as a human being if he wanted to cling on to any hope at all. She seemed annoyed by the interruption. Elfman took a step back.

The attack came so quickly, he had no hope of avoiding it. Her powerful fist swept him aside as if he were made of paper. The world flipped upside down, then righted itself, and then, ponderously, it reversed itself once more. Impatient, the solid ground forced it to make up its mind. Darkness overrode his vision as Elfman collided with the earth, but he forced the lull of unconsciousness away with sheer willpower and struggled to his feet, blinking until the world came back into focus.

The beast that Cana had become took a lumbering step towards him, and the entire earth shook with the weight of it. Then, as if pursuing him was too much effort, it turned away from him, sniffing the air. That ravenous gaze settled on Freed.

Eyeing her cautiously, Freed shifted the weight of the blade in his hand. His earlier confidence had deserted him, but he was too proud to show any signs of fear. Of course he wouldn't run. He didn't _know._ He hadn't been there, the day Lisanna had died. The trembling of the mountains, the sky set alight by the portentous sunset, the inhuman desire to kill and kill and kill – they were all things unfamiliar to him. That was why he was acting like he still thought there was a chance he could win this fight.

The beast became a blur of motion. How could something so big move so quickly? That single detached thought was the only thing in Elfman's mind. If she had gone for him, the fear gripping him would have meant his death. Yet Freed dodged her lunge, somehow, his thin duellist's blade scraping along the edge of Cana's long claws.

Planting a foot firmly on the ground to halt his motion, Freed spun around and sketched runes in front of him with the tip of his sword. "Dark Écriture: Pain."

Purple light flashed through the air, reflecting the eerie glint from his right eye. Cana froze. She locked eyes with Freed. And then a roar split the air, loud enough to shake the earth beneath them. That was not a roar of suffering or of helplessness – it was one of fury.

"It had no effect?" Freed took a step back, and then another. "How is that possible?"

The beast had no intention of giving him an answer. Once again she lunged; once again, Freed managed to dodge it, but this time it was closer – those bladelike claws came within inches of his face. Defiantly he retaliated, slashing at her arm before she could strike another blow, but that thick matted skin may as well have been plate armour for all the effect his attacks had. Freed's sword was one meant for the delicate arts of duelling and inscribing runes, not hacking apart monsters.

He jumped back, changing tack once more. "Dark Écriture: Fear!"

This time, she seemed to hesitate for longer, but it was a false hope. That beast was the king of monsters: fear belonged to her and her alone. She would never tremble before a mere human. Howling a challenge, she lowered her head and charged for Freed.

His exhaustion was beginning to show. Though he managed to roll to the side, he was slow. Cana was expecting it, checking her motion and reaching out to grab him as she passed. That great arm caught him a glancing blow, sending him sprawling.

Gasping for breath, Freed urged, "Dark Écriture: Wings!" He kicked off from the ground, rising into the air in order to put some space in between him and the earthbound monster.

Or, at least, that was the plan. He hadn't anticipated the sheer power of the beast. The muscles in her legs strained as she bent her knees, tensed, and then sprung into the air with a force which shattered the hard earth beneath her. One fist locked around Freed's foot.

Then, with an almighty crash, the beast returned to the ground. Momentum, gravity and her own incredible strength combined to hurl Freed towards the earth. His limp body bounced like a discarded ragdoll; his precious blade tumbled from his hand. When he finally came to a halt, limbs askew, he didn't move again.

The beast took a step towards the broken body of her opponent, sniffing the air cautiously. As if she had anything to fear – as if there was anything at all that could stop that monster!

They would share Freed's fate. It was certain. After all, it was happening again.

"Elfman!" That startled scream, the voice of his sister, was the only thing that could break through the despair. She was running towards him, her eyes – once the wise, attentive eyes of their Master – wide and not completely sane. "We have to run. We have to run. We have to run!" she told him, desperate, as if utterly unaware that she had said it three times. She tugged at his arm. "Come on!"

"No," said a voice.

That voice was so calm, it couldn't possibly have belonged to the confused jumble of fear and grief that was currently Elfman, and yet it had come from his mouth.

And what was worse, that voice was right. "I can't."

" _We have to run!_ " his sister reiterated, unable to comprehend his response. "We can run – get away – hide – until her magic power runs out-"

"No," Elfman said, his voice growing stronger; breaking through the turmoil. "If we leave, there'll be nothing stopping her from killing Freed while he's defenceless… or from going into the town. A true Man wouldn't run. And besides…" He began to walk forwards slowly, away from Mira, away from the path that would lead from here to safety. "That's not what will happen. If Cana runs out of magic power, she won't revert back to normal. She'll remain a beast forever."

Grief had overtaken reason; turned it into madness. "She knew that when she used that magic!" yelled Mira. Anything to get her brother back. Anything to stop this suicidal course of action. Anything to stop it from happening-

"Yes," said Elfman, quietly. "Just like I did, on that day."

"Please, Elfman! _Not you too!_ "

But he only smiled at her, and kept on walking.

Rooted to the spot, Mira could do nothing but watch as her brother approached the hulking form of the beast. It would be exactly the same this time round. She could still see it, in the memories she had never truly moved on from; in the dreams she pretended she had never woken up from screaming. That silhouette. That white hair. Those outstretched arms; a call to home.

Lisanna, protecting her with her innocence.

Elfman. Doing what he knew he had to do.

Even if it meant his death.

It was a beautiful day in Magnolia, but in her mind's eye, the sky was the same bloodied red it had been back then. That burning crimson shone bright with the promise of death.

 _It's happening again._

* * *

Happy had never been more determined than he was right now.

Yes, he was (usually) a cat. Yes, his job was to sit on the sidelines and provide sarcastic commentary, and to occasionally offer support by flying someone somewhere or finding someone in trouble or delivering important news.

He was also a hero. You couldn't hang around with someone like Natsu and not understand bravery; you couldn't be a part of Fairy Tail without sharing that desire to protect those around you. Born in the guildhall itself, Happy was the only one out of all of them who could truly claim to have been a part of the guild for his entire life. In some ways, this was the chance that he had been waiting for – he had power to rival, or even to surpass, Natsu's; he could fight alongside everyone else.

Being Erza was fun. He had loads of cool armours, and he could still scare people when they forgot he wasn't actually her. Besides, once he won this one-on-one fight against an opponent even Gray had been unable to beat, Natsu would have to acknowledge him as the stronger mage. Just the thought of it made him chuckle diabolically – a sound which, coming from Erza, actually made Evergreen take a step back.

Not that the fight was going so well. He was currently wearing a navy-blue bikini, complete with inner tube around his waist and scuba goggles on his forehead. In each hand, contrasting somewhat with the rest of his outfit, he was holding a long steel sword. He pointed one of them at his opponent.

Evergreen stood at the other side of the street, her hands on her hips. "You're really going to challenge me, looking like that? You should know when you're outclassed."

Maybe a female rival would have risen to the bait, but Happy couldn't care less. He was going to win this battle, for everyone's sake. With a yell Natsu would have been proud of, he charged across the road, one blade raised high above his head.

Evergreen just smirked. "You fell for it! Fairy Bomb: Gremlin!"

The air around Happy glimmered golden, and then exploded. Shockwaves bombarded his body from all directions. He cried out, a sound which couldn't possibly be heard above the roaring of magic, but which Warren's telepathic link could pick up just fine.

Erza's voice, sharp and intent, cut into his mind. "Happy, what's going on?"

He wasn't about to question her – even if he currently had her body, this was still Erza he was talking to, and she sounded particularly terrifying at the moment. "Exploding- air-"

"Her fairy dust?" An instant later, Erza's musings became an order. "Requip my Flame Empress Armour."

"Why-?"

"Do it!"

He did. No one in their right mind would disobey a direct order from Erza. Perhaps his fear of accidentally doing so was what drove the magic to provide him with the armour he needed, because his desired Requip worked first time. The swimsuit was gone, along with its accessories; in its place materialized an elaborate orange and red scaled armour which covered little more of his body. The twin swords had been replaced by a crimson blade with jagged edges, as if it were a frozen tongue of flame.

Fire ran along the edge of that blade unbidden – and then the fire was not just covering the sword, but spreading into the air around it. As Erza had guessed, by piecing together what Gray had relayed to her earlier and what she already knew about Evergreen's magic, the fairy dust was dangerously flammable.

The flames spread faster than Evergreen could force the dust particles to detonate. In an instant the two of them were stood at the heart of an inferno. The dancing scarlet fire blocked out all signs of the outside world; the heat sucked the air dry of oxygen – but only for a moment, before the dust was consumed and the surroundings returned to normal. Thanks to the protective properties of his armour, Happy was completely unharmed. Evergreen hadn't been so lucky. The trail of dust she had been emitting had guided the flames right back to her.

Nor had the surrounding houses escaped the destruction. As Happy glanced around, marvelling at the cracked walls and scorched brickwork and finally understanding how Natsu could do so much damage to his surroundings by accident, he heard Erza's voice again, focussed and insistent. "What are you waiting for? Follow up your advantage! Flight Armour!"

"Aye, sir!" Again, the cheetah-patterned armour came to him first try. When he knew exactly which outfit he was targeting with Requip, it wasn't so difficult after all.

"Sonic Claw!" Erza yelled.

Happy repeated it. The magic shot him forwards, crossing the distance between him and a stunned Evergreen faster than he could have done even at his top flying speed. His sword flashed out, becoming a deadly blur of light.

The attack hit home, but his aim hadn't been perfect. Erza would have ended the battle there and then, he was sure. "She's still standing," he reported. "Sorry…" He sprung away again, not wanting to get caught in an explosion from her fairy bombs without any defensive magic to back him up.

There came a slight sigh from Erza's end, and the telepathic link momentarily dropped out. Then it was back, along with Erza's urgent snap, "What's going on?"

Happy fumbled for the words. "She's- uh-"

"Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!" yelled Evergreen triumphantly.

As the needles of light shot towards him, Happy froze in panic. He couldn't dodge such a wide spread of missiles, nor could he overwhelm them with magic in this armour. What would Natsu do? Natsu never seemed to be scared. He always knew exactly what to do. Fighting one-on-one was so much more difficult than his friend made it look.

"Happy. Adamantine Armour."

Erza's quiet voice came to him in the nick of time. She sensed his fear through their telepathic link, and felt – of all things! – empathy. Levy and Warren had been right. As if Happy wasn't her dear friend… As if there was anything more important than helping him if she could!

Almost crying with relief at that voice, Happy Requipped the armour she advised just in time for its formidable shield to reflect the first of the missiles. Crouching behind the shield, he found an ounce of calmness. Natsu might not have been here, but he wasn't fighting alone either.

"Happy, trust me," whispered Erza. "We'll win this together."

He projected nothing back through that mental link, but he was certain she could feel his gratitude, and his hope.

She said, simply, "Black Wing Armour," and he knew exactly what she wanted. Happy had inherited her body, her magic, her armours, and, above all, her fighting spirit. She meant for him to use it to fly through the dust clouds thrown up by the reflected magic, and get behind his opponent while he had the chance.

"Let's do this!" he declared. "Requip!"

In an instant, he was behind Evergreen. He didn't need to tell Erza he had succeeded – she just _knew_. They were fighting together, after all.

"Purgatory Armour!"

Their thoughts were one. The instant the spiked black metal covered his body, he struck out at Evergreen from behind; before she had the chance to react.

"Done it!"

"Lightning Empress Armour!"

"Yes!"

"Heaven's Wheel!"

"AYE, SIR!"

Requipping in between breaths. This speed. This sheer magic power. This was Erza's – no, this was their combined will.

Thrown backwards by the blow from the Purgatory Armour's enormous mace, paralyzed by the lightning attack from the Lightning Empress's spear, Evergreen was utterly helpless as Happy soared towards her, his outstretched wings formed no longer from feathers, but from countless blades.

Happy and Erza yelled in unison: "Blumenblatt!"

* * *

Erza removed her trembling paw from Warren's, terminating the communication. Levy and Warren stared at her expectantly. She avoided their gazes.

"It's over," she said, to a stray pillow. "He won. Evergreen has been defeated."

 _And nothing changed_ , the dead tone of her voice seemed to suggest. _I'm still a cat. I'm still powerless. And Happy, Happy he-_

But she didn't say any of that out loud. "Well, that's one of the Raijinshuu down for certain."

Though the false lightness in her voice was jarring, though that forced smile hurt to look at – it was still better than anger, or depression, wasn't it? Levy didn't know what to say. Was there anything that could make this situation any better; anything that wouldn't just be false hope leading to more bitter disappointment?

Erza clapped her paws together. The sharp sound made both Levy and Warren jump. "Everyone else is fighting," she told them briskly. "The time has almost come for us to join in."

When they still looked dubious, she sighed at the two of them, a little of her old self returning as she closed her eyes in exasperation. "We can worry about Changeling and all that later on, right? The most important thing is protecting our guild. It's about time we got the plan started. Let's head up to the roof."

* * *

 _Not you too_.

His sister's plea was a blade of ice in Elfman's heart. He hesitated; almost turned. But fear had not stopped Lisanna, and guilt would not stop him.

Elfman's voice was by no means calm, but compared to Mira's frantic shrieking, it was as steady as the wide ocean. "Cana. Can you hear me?"

The beast stirred; turned her great head away from Freed's unconscious form. Good. He had to focus on leading her away before she could maul his body. Enemy or not, he couldn't let her attack Freed while he was unable to defend himself… he couldn't let Cana kill.

He took a step back, not breaking eye contact with her. "I know there's some part of you that can hear me," he continued. She took a lumbering step forwards in slow pursuit. He had her full attention now. Elfman felt a surge of satisfaction, quickly drowned by rising fear. He forced it back.

"It's dark where you are. I know. I've been there." Another step back. She took two this time, closing the distance between them. Her bestial nose twitched. Her claws flexed slightly. Signs of danger he chose to ignore. Signs of life.

"It's easy to ignore my voice, like I ignored hers. When you're there, you don't have to think about anything. It's better that way, isn't it?" He received a soft snarl in response. "There's no guilt, no fear… nothing to worry about. But I know, somewhere in there, you can hear me."

This time, the beast initiated the motion. Elfman remained rooted to the spot, letting her come closer. She had lost all interest in Freed now, so he allowed his gaze to slip from hers momentarily, checking that his former enemy was safe. He thought he saw a twitch of movement. Good. If he regained consciousness, he could get away from here and warn the others in the town. Maybe then they'd stop this pointless battle and help him protect everyone from the beast.

With his full attention back on Cana's monstrous form, he smiled. It was a genuine smile. "Come back, Cana. I know it's difficult, but we're waiting for you. I promise, everything will be alright. Cana, come home."

Watching her brother numbly from across the trampled grass, Mira's eyes widened. Those words – they were the words Lisanna had spoken on that fateful day. She had never forgotten them. No, they had been branded onto her memory, along with every second of that day. And she knew exactly what was coming next.

Her voice was already hoarse from shouting, but she redoubled her efforts, trying to make her brother understand. " _Elfman, get back!_ "

He understood – an instant too late. Even as he began to jump away, Cana lunged forward. Her great fist caught him a glancing blow, sending him flying through the air. The firm ground stopped his fall, but he didn't feel it, continuing to descend straight through into darkness.

No. Not yet. He wasn't giving up yet. Drawing upon every ounce of his willpower, he clawed his way back up towards the light. Closed eyelids opened a crack; breath returned to those lungs, screaming but whole, protected by a battered ribcage which had done its job. It wasn't even his body. That was another thing he'd have to apologize to Cana for. That was another reason why he couldn't give up, not yet.

Her demonic face was alarmingly close to his. There was no light in those eyes, not a single trace of humanity. "No…" Elfman whispered, his eyes wide. "No! Cana!"

But, miraculously, Cana turned away. To her feral instincts, he was no longer a threat. Growling, she prowled away in search of other prey. He had some time.

His attempt at moving just sent a shudder running through his whole body, and nothing more. Even so, this physical pain was nothing compared to his memories, compared to carrying around the weight of what he had done. He had to get up and warn people to evacuate the area – and then, belatedly, he realized who Cana was going for next: Mira.

Yelling a warning, he tried to jump to his feet. He got as far as his knees and could go no further. Straining against his own weakness, futile, helpless, pathetic, he was forced to watch as the beast brought its fist crashing down on his defenceless sister.

A flash of crimson crossed his vision. At first it was just a blur, but as it shot out from the dust cloud thrown up by the impact, it resolved into a figure: Freed, wings spread, holding Mira tightly. They made it almost all the way to Elfman before Freed's magic gave out and he fell to the floor, wings breaking apart into their constituent runes. The two of them tumbled along the ground. No sooner had they come to a stop than Freed had pushed himself into a crouch, positioned between Cana and Mira, one hand resting upon the hilt of his sword as if he lacked the strength to draw it.

"Freed!" Mira murmured.

Elfman hissed, "Why? You're our enemy…"

"Why were you trying to lead her away from me earlier?" Freed shot back. "It's over. I lost. I admit defeat; I want no more part in Laxus's game. But this – this is more important." As they scrutinized each other, Elfman was suddenly reminded of Erza's arguments from earlier: runes designed to trigger on Fairy Tail members only, so as not to involve civilians; battles restricted in order to minimize the damage to the town. He wasn't the only one who understood the importance of preventing that out of control beast from entering Magnolia. "Can you stop her?"

Elfman thought he understood what Freed was asking. "Yes. I can."

"Elfman, no…" Mira begged, but he ignored her.

Freed gave a grave nod. "I cannot heal you, but I can stop the pain. I placed runes all over this area earlier… or I would never have lasted so long against Mystogan. If I can get them to act on you too…"

His voice tailed off. He was still severely wounded; he could not focus on more than one thing at once. He levelled his sword towards Elfman, who didn't flinch. Their fight was over now. So gently he almost couldn't feel it, Freed cut three shallow, thin lines on Elfman's chest. As they began to fill with crimson blood, the rune he had drawn took shape, and there was a faint sense of magic as the runes bordering the entire battlefield recognized him and kicked into effect. The intense pain hampering Elfman's movements drained away to nothing.

Inside the barrier, Freed's rules were absolute, but his power had its limits. He could only prevent Elfman from feeling the pain; he could do nothing about the injuries inflicted upon his body. Pain was important – it was a crucial warning, telling him when to stop. Nullifying it was dangerous. It would be far too easy, without it, to deal irreparable damage to himself by accident. Yet this was the time when he needed to ignore all warnings; to surpass all human limitations.

As Freed collapsed again, the last of his energy spent, Elfman got to his feet. He was aware that not all his bones were functioning properly, but he could move now, and that was the most important thing. Mira's small hand closed around his wrist – one last attempt to get through to him. He shook her off. She didn't try again.

Elfman and Cana faced each other across the dusty ground. "Why did you do it?" he whispered. Her ears twitched reflexively. Elfman smiled to himself. "No, I know why. You did it for the same reason that I did, all those years ago."

She took a step towards him. A proud hunter's step, afraid of nothing. This time, Elfman knew how close she had to get before she would strike – how much time he had left.

"I understand you, Cana. You did it for the sake of power. Not the power to fight, or the strength to beat others, or the magic to satisfy your pride, but the power to protect those you care about. You were fed up of being unable to do anything, while everyone else put their lives on the line for you and the guild. I can't blame you for that. If I'd had the choice, I'd probably have done the same as you. No, I _did_ do the same as you – back then."

Another step forwards. It would probably take two, three more paces before he was within striking range. He swallowed; pushed on. "I was always being protected by Mira. She took us on S-Class Quests with her to gain experience, but really, it was just for the company. All I ever did was slow her down. I couldn't even do a full-body Take Over! It was so frustrating, I couldn't stand it. I wanted to do something myself, for a change… so I did. I took that power. I killed Lisanna. She tried to bring me home, and I killed my sister with these two hands."

One more step. Elfman didn't even notice. He was somehow smiling. "Do you see, Cana? It wasn't power that I found on that day. Even the most dangerous, unstoppable beast in the world has no power, if he can't protect those he loves. You don't need magic to be strong. A child without magic is stronger than that beast, because even a child has a voice he can use to speak up for those he loves; a body he can use to shield his family; a heart that can connect to those around him. That's why I'm going to bring you home."

Even if Cana didn't understand those words, to Mira, their meaning was all too clear. Just as Lisanna had had to die before Elfman could come back to them, so too would Elfman die in order to bring Cana back.

Her little sister… her little brother… they were both so much stronger than her. Even though she had been the S-Class Mage, Lisanna was the one who hadn't run from the beast that was Elfman. Even though he was injured, with no hope of victory, Elfman was the one who was prepared to give up everything to try and stop Cana. It wasn't about battles, or magic, or power – it was about being human. That's why her brother had been able to move on, and she hadn't; why he had trained and returned to being an active Fairy Tail mage, and she had been reduced to their pathetic barmaid. Elfman was so, so strong. And he was shining like a star in this darkest of places.

Cana was stood only inches away from him, one fist raised above her head. At that distance, Elfman wouldn't even have been able to dodge at full strength, let alone in a shattered body. Of course, he had no intention of dodging.

He looked right up into her inhuman eyes, still with that smile full of warmth. "I know you can't hear me. That was a lie. If I could have heard my sister calling me home back then, I would certainly have come back to her. If you need to kill me in order to remember your humanity, then that's alright. It's only right that it should be me, after what I did. I'd happily die. But I don't want that to happen, and do you know why? I'm saying I'd give up my life for you like it's some big, noble sacrifice on my part, and it's not, because once I'm dead, that's it for me, it's over... and the person that will suffer the most is you, once you come back."

The beast didn't speak, didn't react, didn't give any sign that she had heard his words. But she didn't strike him either.

"If you do this, Cana, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. You'll never be able to forget. You'll never be able to run from what you've done. You'll never move on. Oh, you can pretend. You'll go back to training, go back to magic, put on a fake smile, but it won't ever erase that guilt in your heart. You'll never fully trust yourself, not again. The rest of your life will be endless penitence for a sin that can never, ever be forgiven. I _know,_ Cana, because that's been every single day of my life for the past two years."

Her raised fist wavered, caught by his words. That which was human and that which was not, trying to understand.

"Cana. I don't care about dying. I just don't want anyone else to have to go through what I did. I don't want you to have to live every day for the rest of your life, carrying the same terrible memories as me. So, please. If you don't want to suffer… if you want to _live_ … then stop this."

A single tear fell from Cana's eye. It glittered in the sunlight, a sign of humanity. Her body was glittering too. The enormous beast shone, as if the feelings that had reached the human within had become light. The glowing aura spread until Elfman was embraced by it too. It was too bright to look at, that wondrous light.

When it receded, there was no longer a human and a beast, but two human beings, their hands grasping each other warmly. "All these years…" Cana murmured. "You've been suffering, alone. I never knew… I never understood…"

"Not alone. I had everyone in the guild to help me. And I am never, ever going let anyone else have to go through the same thing. That's the resolve of a Man."

"Thank you," she whispered, collapsing against his chest. It was all she could do to stay upright with her body so battered and broken, so he held her protectively. It was another moment or two before he realized how thin and small she was – or rather, he was a large man again. They were back to normal. He smiled. These strong arms were all the better for protecting his family with.

Then Mira was there too, throwing her arms around as much of him as she could reach and shaking with the force of her sobs. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Elfman rested his hand atop her head fondly. "It's alright, sis," he told her. It was the first time he had called her that in two years. "Everything's going to be alright. I promise."

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Doing a mini storyline for Cana and Elfman was difficult. They always had to have some big scene together in order to switch back from Changeling, yet they just weren't important enough characters to warrant a whole side-story to themselves, so I did the best I could with them without a run-up. I figured that since Elfman never got to confront his past during Phantom Lord in this timeline, it might be a good angle to approach their big scene from. It will probably make more sense why that's the case when I get round to explaining more about Changeling later on._

 _And on that note, when reading this back I noticed it seems like the fact that Erza and Happy didn't swap back is because they're not in the same place. This isn't the case at all. It never even occurred to me that that should be a necessary condition for undoing Changeling when I was writing this - it's a coincidence that all the pairs to switch back so far have been in physical contact at the time. If I could have moved Erza to Happy's location in order to make that clearer then I would have done, but it would just have caused me too many problems next chapter. As it is you'll have to take it from me that that's not what's going on there. It doesn't really matter anyway; the most important thing is that Erza was led to believe it would work, and then it didn't..._

 _Anyway, next chapter can FINALLY get to the bit I've been wanting to write since the beginning of the story: the battle against Laxus. Look forward to it! ~CS_


	16. The True Power of Fairy Tail's Mages

_**A/N:** Chapter Sixteen. It's the longest chapter by a mile, but I really couldn't split it up._ _Laxus vs. Fairy Tail, i.e. "Full Raid on Magnolia"; a slightly different take on the Battle of Fairy Tail's grand finale._ _Did I raise Laxus's power level to that of a literal monster just to make it more fun? Oh, yes. Is it over-the-top dramatic? Absolutely. Then again, sixteen chapters in, you should probably be expecting that by now. After all, why do a conventional one-on-one battle when you can involve the entire guild in a massive raid? :D ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Sixteen: The True Power of Fairy Tail's Mages**

Lightning flashed. Thunder roared. Above the battlefield grey clouds had gathered, drawn by the conflict; a dark blemish on that beautiful blue sky.

Mystogan's staff met Laxus's arm in a cascade of golden sparks. Their eyes locked above the stalemate. Though his face was hidden as usual, Mystogan knew that the other could feel his anger. The amused smirk touching Laxus's lips told him so.

Rings of lightning appeared around Laxus's muscled arm; Mystogan cast his stave aside before it could conduct the powerful magic down to him. At the same time he dropped to the floor, spinning round low with one leg outstretched. The swift blow tripped the big man easily. Yet he hadn't fallen more than a few inches before Mystogan made his next move. Still crouching, the mysterious mage formed rapid symbols with his hands, culminating with him pressing both palms to the ground. Shockwaves tore up the street, growing larger and more violent as Laxus fell towards them.

Laxus's smirk became a scowl as he was forced to enter lightning form to avoid damage from the combination attack. Gravity no longer hindered him; he shot towards the sky, merging with the stormy clouds above. Exerting more magic to change his direction, he was back to the earth in a flash, lancing straight towards his opponent.

Before he could get there, Mystogan's physical form broke apart into smoke. The bolt of lightning shot harmlessly through space. Mystogan's body reformed a few metres away as Laxus dropped out of lightning form, skidding to a halt. In those forms, their powers were tied.

"Not bad," Laxus conceded. "But then again, it'd be a disappointment if not even you could put on a show for me, Mystogan. I've always wanted to find out which of us is stronger. Haven't you?"

Mystogan's eyes flashed, a reflection of distant lightning. "I don't much care for things like that."

"No? And yet you came anyway." Casually, Laxus brought his hand back and flung a bolt of lightning at Mystogan, who didn't flinch as it passed clean over his shoulder. Laxus's eyes narrowed at his opponent's lack of reaction. "You should care. If you can't beat me, then no one in Fairy Tail can."

"You're wrong." Mystogan pulled the two remaining staves from his back and held them evenly, one in each hand. Two more lay in the street where he'd been forced to discard them, and the final one had been charred black by a direct hit from Laxus's energy. There was a fair chance it would fall apart as soon as he picked it up again – if he could even manage to collect them without leaving himself vulnerable to Laxus in the process. He was running out of options, and they both knew it. Yet there was a smile beneath the cloth concealing his face as he replied to Laxus with sincere conviction. "Erza will beat you."

"Erza?" Laxus let out a bark of laughter. "Erza is weak. I'll admit she has potential, but she's got a long way to go before she's anywhere near my level. And that was before. Now she's nothing – just a pathetic cat without magic."

"It is true that she no longer has magic, but I have been listening to all the guild's communications. I know what she's planning. Erza has never been stronger than she is right now." And he added, as if to himself, "I only hope that she can see that, before it's too late."

"This guild is more foolish than I thought, to pin its hopes on a cat. After I've crushed you… she's next."

This was it. Mystogan's final gamble. Sacred Song or nothing.

Laxus raised his hand. The magic power he was emitting was enough to send ripples through the storm clouds above. Even they were afraid of him, and yet Mystogan was not. He placed one foot behind the other, sharp eyes watching for the sign he needed, and span his right staff in a clockwise motion.

Laxus commanded, "Raging Bolt!" There it was! Just as Mystogan had predicted. If he could pull this off, Erza might not have to fight after all. As a golden magic seal appeared before Laxus's outstretched hand, Mystogan swept his staff round fully. A second seal appeared, only inches from Laxus's own. His eyes widening in shock, Laxus sharply increased the magic power he was sending to his spell, not knowing what kind of magic Mystogan was using but determined to blast through it with sheer power.

Except Mystogan's spell wasn't an offensive one. It was a mirror of Laxus's own – a magic seal equal and opposite to Raging Bolt's lightning one in every sense. The two negated each other perfectly. There was no annihilation, no explosion from opposing magical forces – in fact, there was nothing at all. No net amplitude; no spell. It was simple superposition. All the power Laxus had forced into his spell simply vanished, along with both the seals. He had never seen magic like it before. An unparalleled understanding of magic – _that_ was why Mystogan was S-Class.

And he was fast, too. He hadn't stood around while Laxus was trying to work out what he had done. Two staves buried themselves into the ground in front of Laxus before he even realized what was going on, quickly followed by the remaining three encircling him. Mystogan had used the distraction to recover his weapons, and this was his most powerful move. "Five-Layered Magic Circle: Sacred Song!"

As enormous magical seals appeared above him, Laxus's expression became one of terrifying anger. Lightning crackled through his body, pooling in his eyes and racing along his white teeth. Was it an optical illusion, or had his canine teeth become sharp and pointed? Was it just the lightning, or had his impressive upper body muscles swollen to even greater proportions than normal? Could that be the outline of scales on his arms?

Mystogan was one of the few in the guild who knew exactly what it meant: Dragon Force. He had pushed Laxus far enough to use it, but in forcing the other to thusly acknowledge him as a worthy opponent, he had lost all chance of victory.

Mystogan's Sacred Song was fast, but not fast enough. "Try countering this!" challenged Laxus. "Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd!"

Their magic struck each other at the same time: Mystogan's calculated power and the brute strength of Laxus's Lightning Dragon Slayer magic. Both cried out at the intensity of it, but when Laxus went all-out, his victory was never in doubt. Forced to take the full brunt of that power, Mystogan felt his control over the staves and their magic begin to slip from his grasp. Lightning brought agony to every inch of his body. He fell to his knees, muscles trembling from the shock of it long after the lightning itself had dissipated as shivers into the ground.

The tension in the earth and sky vanished as Laxus's body returned to normal and his magical presence dropped back from that of a monster to a level more to be expected of an ordinary human being. He was breathing heavily, but otherwise uninjured. Clear victories against that Dragon Slayer Gajeel and now Mystogan too, and neither one had managed to deal any significant damage to him. It was true. No one in the guild could stop him.

"It's over," said Laxus, as a chill wind blew through the street.

"Wrong," Mystogan told him. "It's only just begun. Erza… I leave Fairy Tail in your hands."

* * *

From the roof of the hospital they could see for miles around. One of the tallest buildings in the city, it stood almost at Magnolia's heart, offering them unparalleled views of the complex network of streets and buildings, homes and livelihoods. The city was spread out before them like a living, breathing map, the rune markings on Levy's screen and the inked lines on Erza's parchment diagram realized in full colour and energy.

The moment she saw the explosion – that half-sphere burst of blazing golden light, briefly outstripping the sun in brilliance as it mercilessly tore up the buildings in its way – Erza knew exactly what it meant. Though they were too far away to see the combatants themselves, the tremors from the sheer amount of magic power released rippled through the air around them. That was Laxus, alright. He truly was a monster. Not even Mystogan could have overcome that.

"Report from Bisca," Warren recounted. "Mystogan's down. Laxus is on his way here."

Members of the assembled crowd exchanged looks. There were a handful of groans. The tension in that semicircle, clustered around Erza at the edge of the roof, increased tenfold.

Erza herself was the only one who didn't seem bothered by the news. "Alright." It was difficult to read the expression on her feline face, but her voice was calm. "He bought us the time we needed to set up. It's up to us now. Warren, ask Bisca to return here. She'll easily make it before Laxus if she goes via- Warren?"

Alert to any signs of trouble, she span round at his hesitation. Warren's brow was furrowed in concentration. "Something's wrong. There's too much interference. I can't get through."

"What's happening?" Levy asked, trying to understand. "What can you hear?"

"…Static," Warren reported, bewildered. "Nothing but static, drowning out everyone's voices. And it's getting louder. I've never encountered anything like this before."

"It's Laxus," Erza deduced. "Like you said earlier, when you couldn't reach Natsu in the middle of his fight because of the interference from the amount of magic power he was throwing around. It doesn't take much to disturb telepathy over a long range. Since Laxus released his full power, his magical presence is simply too large, and he's no longer bothering to keep it in check. The telepathic fields are going haywire because of him. Our communications are down."

Shock became despair. "Then we can't fight," Levy said bleakly. "This must be on purpose. He knows what we're planning."

"I don't think it's intentional," mused Erza. "This is just Laxus's power, unleashed. The fact that it's blocking our communications is just an accident. And we _can_ still fight. We're prepared for this. Let's proceed with Plan C."

Gray demanded, "How are we already down to Plan C? We haven't even started fighting yet!"

Erza gave a small smile. "Plan A was for Mystogan to win and we could all go home happy. Plan B was to use Warren's telepathy to coordinate an enormous simultaneous strike, but there's no way we can safely pull that off without mental communication. Plan C… is our only hope."

Pausing dramatically, Erza cast a glance at the four small cylinders stood on the roof next to her – nondescript tubes of different colours: orange, yellow, blue, violet. Their purpose wasn't immediately obvious. Erza hadn't thought they would actually have to use them, but it just went to show that it paid to be prepared.

"Gray Squad," she ordered.

"Yeah?" Gray replied. Alzack stepped up beside him, and the many other mages who had been declared part of his squadron clustered around them, waiting for their instructions.

"You're up. Be careful."

"Got it." Gray headed for the stairs with the others trailing along behind him. Many more of their mages were already in place in the streets below.

Warren suggested, "Erza? I'm going to head away from the centre of town. If I can put enough distance between me and Laxus, I might be able to get in touch with the away teams and coordinate some support for you in accordance with the backup plan – if anyone but Happy has survived their encounter with the Raijinshuu, that is."

"Go for it. Thanks, Warren."

Erza selected the orange cylinder and held it in both hands. She took a deep breath, and slowly let it out again. This was it. It was actually happening.

Knowing which armour to use against which opponent. Switching between them at a moment's notice. Learning an opponent's weakness in the middle of battle and turning it against them. Commanding a multitude of blades at once with telekinesis, and thinking no more of it than controlling her own limbs. This was no different.

She raised the cylinder above her head. "Let's do this, Fairy Tail!"

* * *

It was quiet. Too quiet.

This was the centre of Magnolia, in the middle of a bright, sunny afternoon, on the day before the Fantasia Parade should have been held. So where the hell _was_ everyone? The street was devoid of people; none of the sounds of daily life reached him from inside any of the houses or shops. Something was badly wrong.

Even worse, Laxus was certain he was being watched. Despite his heightened senses, he couldn't detect any magical presences, though he wasn't about to take that as a guarantee that he was alone. Thick stone walls and old buildings were good at concealing that sort of thing, especially if the hiding mages were trying very hard not to be detected. Only a fool would ignore so strong a feeling. His charge towards Erza had become a tempered walk, steady and alert; he forced his breathing to become deep and slow.

It wasn't as if he was afraid. Sure, there was every possibility that this was a trap, but so what? He was utterly confident within himself. Even if everyone left standing in Fairy Tail hit him simultaneously with everything they had – no mean feat, considering Changeling, the battles with each other, and the damage he was sure his Raijinshuu had inflicted upon the guild – he was certain he could overcome it. He had defeated Gajeel and Mystogan and come out of it virtually uninjured, and he had barely even begun to tap into his Dragon Slayer magic yet. No, he didn't feel fear.

But he _was_ angry. That much was evident from the tension in his muscles and the sparks of stray lightning flashing up and down his arms, which he had no intention of trying to suppress. As far as he could see it, his victory against Mystogan had never been in doubt, but the fact that that man had pushed him far enough to use his Dragon Slayer powers so openly made him furious inside. There should have been no need for that. He was angry at himself for not wrapping that fight up sooner; for having to show off his trump card before the final battle. He was not about to let that happen again. And so he walked on with a little more caution.

It was well that he did. With his senses on high alert, he noticed the incoming bullet of energy a moment before it could hit him and lunged forward just in time. The bolt passed within inches of his neck and slammed into a door on the other side of the road with an explosion of wooden splinters. He glanced in the direction it had come from – there! One of the houses to his right had a top floor window open.

Without hesitation, Laxus sprinted towards it. The locked door gave beneath his swift kick. As he had thought, the house was abandoned. Sparing no thought for its former inhabitants, he ran for the stairs, ready to confront whoever had shot at him-

But the top floor was equally deserted. Laxus moved to the open window, found the place where he had been standing earlier, and traced the flight path of the bullet back in his mind – to find a small sphere of what might have been glass sitting innocuously on a dressing table. As he stepped towards it, it suddenly shone with crimson light. Then the glow was breaking out from inside it, manifesting itself in the real world as tongues of flame, reaching hungrily for Laxus.

Annoyance flashed in his eyes. He raised his hand and a bolt of lightning shattered the sphere instantly. The flames vanished. Just a lacrima, and a cheap one at that. It wasn't even the kind normally used in traps, which worked by detecting magical presences – this one needed someone to activate it. Where was the operator? He couldn't be far away. One of the adjacent buildings, perhaps, or the street behind.

Laxus was contemplating what dark revenge he would enact upon the one who had set such an infantile trap when it suddenly occurred to him: it wasn't a fire lacrima which had shot that energy bullet at him.

Realizing his mistake, he turned an instant too late. The first two bullets shot through the open window and caught him in the side before his reflexes kicked in and he could throw himself aside. A third sent small shockwaves through the space where he had been standing. That wasn't magic from some cheap lacrima – it was intense, focussed energy that someone had spent years mastering. There was only one man in the guild who could shoot like that. It would be an easy task for him to curve the path of his bullets too; to make it appear that they had come from the houses on his right, when the shooter was actually hiding on the left hand side of the street.

And anyone who could do that could also curve the bullets coming in through the window. In the cramped space of the stranger's bedroom, there wasn't enough room to dodge. As the fourth bullet arced towards him, Laxus met it with a fist full of lightning, smashing it to pieces.

Nor did he stop there. He shot forwards, breaking straight through the window in an explosion of deadly glass shards and dropping to the ground below. During the impact he did not once close his eyes, on the lookout for the next missile, which would have given away the shooter's location. Yet through foresight or sheer dumb luck, Alzack hadn't risked a fifth shot, and Laxus found himself crouched on the ground once again in a street that was empty.

For a moment, a terrible scowl painted his face. This was not how his game was supposed to be played. If Erza was behind this, then as soon as he found her-

A bolt of darkness streaked within inches of his face. Now that he was looking out for it, he recognized the impersonal touch of lacrima magic even as he retaliated with a blaze of lightning ten times as powerful, which traced its path back to the house it had come from. His fast reflexes were rewarded with the distant sound of glass smashing as the lacrima overloaded with magic power and exploded. He was beginning to understand their plan, now. His opponents were too scared to face him directly, so they had hidden themselves randomly in the empty houses, and placed lacrima nearby that they could activate from within a few-metre radius.

Three more attacks came at him, one from his left and two from houses up ahead. Laxus almost laughed. He didn't even need to bother dodging these – they were mere annoyances, nowhere near enough to harm him. Even the wound in his side from Alzack's magic couldn't slow him down. He could easily push that out of his mind. But whether or not they actually posed a threat to him was beside the point. He would hunt down and defeat every single person who dared to try and attack him in such a pathetic manner.

Laxus broke into a run. At the end of the street, the road took a sharp turn to the right. He wasn't familiar with this area of Magnolia, it being a high-end residential district rather than the sprawling mess of shops in the town centre that he was used to. No doubt they had chosen this area for a reason.

He rounded the corner and realized three things. First, it was a dead end. There were houses on all sides except for the direction he had come from. Second, at the centre of the square, surrounded by a large circular road to allow carriages to turn, was a grand fountain. Most likely it was a remnant of Magnolia's city beautification project, implemented a few years ago and then quickly abandoned when it was discovered that the rising stars of Fairy Tail were destroying the expensive sculptures faster than the authorities could commission them. Third, said fountain wasn't working properly. He noticed this as his foot hit the ground with a faint splash. The water lacrima embedded in the fountain was still creating and projecting water up into the air, but it wasn't draining away. The water was pouring over the sides and out into the street, turning the entire cul-de-sac into a slick, shallow lake.

That made things easier. He could use that water to send his lightning into all the houses at once, and flush out his attackers. Leaping forward, he commanded, "Raging-"

He wasn't fast enough. There was a figure standing in the fountain, concealed by the falling curtain of water. He was probably chilled to the bone, but cold didn't bother an ice mage. It wasn't as if he was wearing any clothes that would get soaked anyway.

"Ice Make: Floor!"

The water covering the ground solidified instantly. Taken by surprise, Laxus slipped and fell. In the next instant, figures appeared on the roof of the nearest house, hauling a weighted net which they dropped on top of Laxus's prone form before disappearing as shadows once again.

Fierce fury rose up inside Laxus. Lightning burst unbidden from his body, tearing up the ice floor and the paving stones beneath it like a child would rip through tissue paper. The rope of the humiliating net was too resistant, however. A vein pulsed in his neck. Seizing the net with both hands, he gritted his teeth and tore it in two, rising to his feet.

At that moment, the houses came alive with light. Figures appeared at windows, throwing whatever spell first came to mind towards Laxus. Lacrima gleamed like eager stars, releasing the magic they contained in a barrage of elemental energy. The lone man was engulfed by a furious storm of magic. For a moment, it seemed that even he would be overwhelmed.

But there was a blaze of light and the storm dissipated, revealing Laxus stood in the centre of it, surrounded by crackling electricity. Magic of that level couldn't even touch him, let alone actually harm him. He glanced up at the houses. The figures who had dared to peek out momentarily had vanished once more. Utterly unimpressed, Laxus scowled. If they were going to keep running and hiding, then he would simply destroy everything at once.

The intensity of energy around him increased as he released more magic power, illuminating all the shadows in the street. It was a mere fraction of what he was truly capable of – there was no need to use any Dragon Slayer magic to deal with these pests – but it was still more power than most mages possessed. Raising his arms, the vortex of lightning exploded outwards. Bolts shot forth in all directions, obliterating everything they encountered. The great houses, as impressive as they were, hadn't been designed to endure such an onslaught. Walls collapsed; roofs caved in; windows shattered from the pressure. Even by Fairy Tail standards, the sheer scale of the devastation was impressive.

Satisfied that nothing could have withstood that, Laxus let his hands fall to his sides.

Then he saw a glimmer of light amongst the settling wreckage. Then another from across the street. And another. Golden flashes. Lightning magic. The arrogant look of victory was wiped from his face, to be replaced by one of utter horror. He managed to gasp, "Organic Link Magic?"

And then the world around him dissolved in a brilliant white explosion.

* * *

Erza had said: _If Laxus has a weakness, then it's his defence. Lightning Magic is incredibly powerful when it comes to offensive techniques, but has very little to offer in the way of protection. In ordinary one-on-one battles, this isn't a problem. He can easily force his opponent to go on the defensive and win through sheer aggression. If he is attacked back, he's fast enough to dodge most things; resilient enough to take blows without sustaining damage; and if the worst comes to the worst, he can overwhelm or dissipate an enemy's attack through sheer magic power. But he can't simply protect himself. If we can remove his ability to dodge through the element of surprise, he'll have no choice but to take the hits, no matter how weak the magic thrown at him. That's how we'll wear him down._

Only now was Gray beginning to understand what she had been saying. If he had been caught in that trap, suddenly faced by incoming hostile magic on all sides, he'd have thrown up an ice shield to block the attacks and buy him some time to think. Erza would probably have used her Adamantine Armour; Lucy might have taken refuge in Horologium; someone with great physical strength like Elfman would probably have endured the raging tempest and waited for it to end. Those options weren't available to Laxus. He couldn't think or plan. He had to act on impulse; retaliate hard and fast. If he had given it some thought, he might have realized that that was exactly what they wanted him to do.

Erza had said: _Whatever you do, don't stick around. If your choice is between landing one extra hit on Laxus or making good your escape, always choose to escape. Protect yourselves. When it comes to sheer magic power, Laxus is a monster. One more spell won't make a difference. The important thing isn't that we hit him, but that he doesn't hit a single one of us. No matter what, keep yourselves safe._

Alzack had played his part perfectly. He had shot exactly at the right time; he had moved frequently enough to keep his position safe; he had fired not one bullet too many. The same could be said for the others hiding in silent terror in the houses as Laxus passed them by, who somehow managed to hold their nerve and not strike too soon or give their positions away. When they had gone all-out, the mages themselves had only launched one spell each at most from the windows before fleeing into basements or leaving through windows at the back of the houses. They had left the lacrima to maintain the barrage remotely, and in the confusion, Laxus hadn't noticed that his human enemies had slipped beyond his reach.

Likewise, in the distraction caused by him freezing the floor, Gray had left the fountain and crouched down behind it, hidden behind its overflowing low wall. It had been a good decision, since one of Laxus's lightning strikes had vaporized the top half of the elaborate decoration. Stripped of its elegance, water spurted irregularly up into the air at a crooked angle. Gray was running low enough on magic power as it was; such a powerful onslaught might well have killed him outright. _This_ was why Erza had emphasized the importance of not fighting fairly.

Plus, their efforts to get out of the way had only made it more likely that Laxus's barrage of lightning bolts would strike the lacrima.

Oh, Fairy Tail would still be paying off the cost of those Organic Link Lacrima in ten years' time, Gray was sure of it. But as far as he was concerned, the look on Laxus's face as he had understood the trap had been worth every penny. The cheap lacrima earlier had been there intentionally to lure him into a false sense of security. To think Erza's plan would have worked so well! She had been right: Laxus's overconfidence had made him predictable.

Gray risked a glance over the low stone wall. The steam from the vaporized ice, along with the dust and debris churned up by the maelstrom of elemental energy, had obscured what was going on, but it was finally beginning to clear.

Laxus was still standing. Of course he was. This was only Stage One of Erza's Plan C, after all; everyone involved had known that the chance of taking him out there with his own power was negligible. But that hadn't been the point. Gray narrowed his eyes, taking in the tremors of the earth; the built-up anger in the air; the shaking of Laxus's body. He couldn't tell from this distance, and he had to be sure.

Leaping out from behind the fountain, he drew on all the power he had left. "Ice Make: Lance!"

Shards of ice flew towards Laxus. For a moment, the latter didn't move, and Gray wondered if they actually had managed to stop that unstoppable monster after all. Then Laxus snapped, "Lightning Dragon's Roar!" and his magical presence intensified once again.

His breath attack disintegrated the ice projectiles and would probably have done the same to Gray, if he hadn't taken Erza's advice about running away to heart after the near-miss earlier. As it was, it was the Ice Clone he had left behind which was caught in Laxus's blast. He himself had dived through a brand new hole in the row of buildings and was well clear.

Erza had said: _I don't know much about Laxus's Dragon Slayer Magic. He isn't a natural Dragon Slayer like Natsu or Gajeel, who were taught their magic by dragons. As far as I know, he gets his powers from some sort of dragon lacrima. It's a closely-guarded secret. Before the Phantom Lord incident, I had only ever seen him use it once before, at the S-Class Trials a few years ago. Laxus rarely needs it anyway since his own Lightning Magic is so strong, and he keeps it under wraps to avoid awkward questions. If he uses it, it means only one thing: that he is no longer in control of the situation, or entirely of himself. Either he is afraid – which won't happen here – or he is angry. If you can provoke Laxus into using his Dragon Slayer Magic, then you've succeeded in making him mad._

Because that had been the point of this whole elaborate set-up. The simple trap with Alzack and the intentionally-pathetic lacrima, staying out of sight, attacking him remotely, the ice floor, the humiliation of being caught like an animal in that net, and finally turning his own magic back on himself with Organic Link – such juvenile tricks were never going to take down Laxus. They were never _supposed_ to. They were meant to annoy him, to frustrate him, to irritate him, to enrage him; to push him beyond reason into a state where they might possibly be able to beat him.

The fact that he had unleashed his Dragon Slayer Magic proved that Stage One, or as Alzack had jokingly called it, Operation: Annoy Laxus, had been a success.

Gray kept running until there was at least a block between him and Laxus. Only then did he dare to stop and pull the two cylinders from his belt – one red and one green. He tossed the red one over his shoulder, and held the green above his head, unscrewing the top and giving a sharp tug on the string that emerged. A flash streaked up into the sky; a bright green flare that Erza would notice and know that the first stage of the plan had been a success.

It was the first sign of hope. Maybe, just maybe, Fairy Tail would be able to pull through this after all.

* * *

At the sight of the signal, cheers erupted from the remaining mages on the hospital's roof. Levy jumped up into the air, grinning in delight, only to realize that the person next to her wasn't joining in the celebrations. Makarov was staring out over the city, his face ashen.

"What is it, Master?" Levy inquired, forgetting once again that they weren't supposed to call him that any more.

Makarov turned his tortured gaze upon her. "I can already hear the letters of complaint dropping onto the doormat…" he moaned.

Levy gave a rueful smile. "Well, at least if we manage to get through this, it'll be Laxus who has to foot the repair bills."

For some reason, that notion didn't seem to reassure their former Master in the slightest.

The only outward sign that Erza had seen the green flare was a slight nod of approval. "Good," she remarked, and then she turned to address the other people on the roof with her. "Gajeel Squad, you're up."

Unlike Gray Squad, which had required most of the guild's uninjured mages to line the houses with and remotely operate the lacrima, Gajeel Squad contained only four members: Jet, Droy, Laki, and their leader, Gajeel himself. All four of them nodded with determination. Even Gajeel hadn't protested at being dragged back into the fight – not once Erza had agreed to let him be the team leader, anyway.

Levy turned to them. "Good luck," she said, to Laki. "Be careful," she warned her teammates, Jet and Droy. Glancing finally at Gajeel, she hit her fist lightly against the rock-hard muscles on his chest. "Don't overdo it," she said, not meeting his eyes.

"Like I need you to tell me that," Gajeel huffed, also glancing away.

Levy wasn't the only one worried about Gajeel. Erza was acutely aware that no matter how tough the Dragon Slayer made himself out to be in front of his new teammates – and especially, Erza thought suspiciously, in front of Levy – it hadn't been that long since he had lost badly to Laxus. Yet he was the only one who could possibly pull this off.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Erza checked.

"I can do it," came the disgruntled response. "I almost had it in our fight earlier. A little bit longer, and I'd have had the timing down. Just watch. I ain't gonna lose to the same opponent twice."

"Alright." Erza smiled, picking up the yellow cylinder and launching the flare high into the sky. "Stage Two, commence! Gajeel Squad, move out!"

The team disappeared down the stairs at an eager run. There weren't many people left on the roof now. Those already in the field would have seen the yellow flare and moved to their new positions. Only Gray was to return at that signal, and he presently did, bursting up onto the roof and dashing over to Erza to recount what had happened.

"Good. Nicely done, Gray. We're making good progress. Oh, that reminds me – Makarov, can you head to the Mayor's Office now? We'll need you soon."

The old man – or, as he was at that moment, the attractive young woman – nodded and departed without a word.

"Think he'll be alright?" Levy asked.

Erza frowned. "Not sure. It's hardest on him, with Laxus being his grandson and his successor. And it's made worse by the fact that we're not dealing with the situation in the way that he wants to handle it. He's angry, and I'm not, I'll admit that. That's why I've given him that job – to keep him out of the actual fighting."

"He'll do it," Gray spoke up. "This may not be his preferred method for knocking some sense into Laxus, but he trusts your judgement. We all do."

Erza turned her dark gaze back towards the city, signalling the end of the conversation.

* * *

Gajeel was stood on the roof of an empty house, one hand holding on to a stone-cold chimney pot for reassurance he didn't need. Erza had been very particular about him being atop this house, on this corner of these exact streets. Not being from Magnolia himself, he wasn't quite sure what all the fuss was about, but Erza had been adamant. This ordinary piece of road below him was apparently where they were going to stop Laxus – provided they could get him there.

And that was easier said than done. Jet and Droy were in charge of luring him to the street below. After what he had seen of their skills first-hand, Gajeel was amazed that the two of them were daring to tackle their enemy alone, however briefly. They had a bravery which surpassed the limits of their abilities. Everyone in Fairy Tail did. Perhaps he wouldn't mind joining them after all – if there was still a guild left to join once this was over, of course.

A flash of motion caught his attention. From his vantage point he could see Laxus enter the street a few rows of houses away, just as planned. Though Gajeel knew the odds of the other looking his way were slim, he crouched further into the shadow of the chimney.

There! Another figure appeared. That was Droy, breaking cover and running for Laxus. Leafy tendrils broke through the ground at his bidding, wrapping themselves around Laxus's legs and fixing him firmly in place. As he struggled to free himself, there came a blur of motion in the street behind him: Jet, the only person in the guild who could possibly rival Laxus for sheer speed – and the only person who, they hoped, would be able to lure the incensed Laxus into a race.

Jet's flying kick struck Laxus from behind, and would have thrown him forwards if not for the binding plants. Like a mouse who had dared to bite a lion, he didn't hang around, activating his High Speed Magic and shooting off down the road.

For a moment, Laxus didn't move. Gajeel found to his surprise that his fingers were crossed, and he forced them to straighten irritably. He didn't need superstition. Everything had been carefully calculated up to this point. Under normal circumstances, he was certain Laxus wouldn't have given chase. Jet was clearly heading away from Erza and the hospital. If their opponent had stopped and thought about it, he might have realized that not only was this an obvious distraction, but it was also probably a trap.

But that was why they'd done their best to ensure that Laxus wasn't thinking things through logically. That was why the job of Gray and most of their mages had been to anger him, and push him beyond his cool, confident self; to humiliate him, to infuriate him, to attack him without giving him the chance to strike back. Now, for the first time, they had stuck Jet right in front of him: a tangible target. A tempting opponent. One who could make it look as if he arrogantly thought his own speed would outstrip even Laxus's lightning form and keep him safe from harm. Surely, if Laxus had been mad enough to throw his secret Dragon Slayer magic at Gray, he would take the bait. Surely…

He did. Gajeel blinked and almost missed it; Laxus shifted into lightning form, the only thing which would render Droy's binding useless, and the only thing which would let him catch up with his opponent. Jet led him on a zigzagging path through the streets, towards the road where Gajeel waited. His magic was pushed to the max and yet Laxus was gaining. Another few seconds and Jet might have been caught, but in the nick of time the two racers entered Gajeel's street.

Without hesitation or fear, the Iron Dragon Slayer threw himself off the roof. As he had promised Erza, this time round, his timing was perfect. He fell towards the ground just as Laxus passed beneath him, and thrust his hand into the bolt of lightning.

* * *

There had been a long discussion between Gajeel and Erza concerning the feasibility of this plan. Preferring to fight on instinct and skill, that sort of protracted analysis of his opponent's most important technique was a new experience for Gajeel, but Erza wasn't taking no for an answer in that usual terrifying way of hers and so he had tried to recount as much of his earlier battle with Laxus as he could. They couldn't beat Laxus by fighting against him blindly – only by understanding his strengths and weaknesses could they hope to make headway against such an overwhelmingly strong opponent.

Her question was a simple one: Laxus's lightning form was indisputably powerful in the speed, invulnerability and damage potential it offered, so why did he use it only when he had to? It couldn't be difficult magic to use, because when he did use it, he did so easily. No, most likely it consumed inordinate amounts of magic power.

For Gajeel, that had been quite enough analysis, but Erza wasn't finished. Which part of it involved such power? Not entering or leaving the form, because Laxus dropped in and out of it freely, frequently returning to a physical state to change direction or launch an attack before moving as lightning again, as he had done against Jose. Nor could Erza believe it was the motion itself. Lightning was a phenomenon of speed; it existed only in transit. The very idea of static lightning was oxymoronic.

That only left setting a course of motion. Lightning sought the path of least resistance. Deviating from that path – in other words, going where Laxus wanted to go, rather than where the lightning naturally tended towards – was what took up so much power. Furthermore, it was clearly difficult for him to change direction. Why else, when he was close enough to a surface for it to be feasible, would he switch back to his physical body in order to alter his course? His direct-line motion was near-instantaneous, but when he shot round in a great, curved arc, he was forced to slow down to a pace that the eye could track quite comfortably. The explanation seemed to fit.

If they wanted to trap Laxus, then all they needed to do was lure him into his lightning form… and present him with a path of such affinity to his lightning that not even he would be able to fight it.

* * *

As Gajeel fell, he drew upon his Iron Dragon Slayer magic, covering his whole body in scales. Perfect pure iron; an exemplary conductor of electricity. His body was the path of least resistance. As he drew closer to Laxus, it became exponentially more difficult for the latter to keep moving along the path he had chosen. Gajeel turned more and more of his remaining magic power inwards to enhance the iron-like qualities of his own body, growling at the effort, and he felt Laxus's magic power increase in response as he redoubled his efforts to escape the pull. In a battle of sheer power, Laxus would have won easily, but Gajeel wasn't trying to sharply alter his path. He only needed to slow him down enough so that he could do what he hadn't quite been able to earlier: snatch the other straight out of that invincible form.

So he plunged his arm into the slow-motion lightning, and was satisfied to find his hand closing around something solid. Ignoring the searing pain racing up his arm, he pulled with all his might. The streak of lightning vanished in an explosion of sparks. Gajeel found that his hand was gripped around Laxus's neck, and it was with a grin of triumph that he hurled him straight into the side of the nearest building.

Completely stunned, Laxus was paralyzed as his body went into shock from the unexpected transition. Gajeel regarded him critically. Erza had been _very_ precise about where she wanted Laxus to be, and he was still slightly off. "I guess it's payback time, then," Gajeel grinned. "Roar of the Iron Dragon!"

Yet to regain his bearings, Laxus couldn't even move, let alone avoid it. The breath attack shattered the wall he had been lodged into and forced him further back into the house. Shards of iron cut gashes all over his body. Unlike the gunshot wound from earlier, these were deep enough to draw blood.

And he wasn't done yet. Gajeel glanced at the hand he had used to grab Laxus with. There were burns reaching as high as his elbow; the sparks of raw energy had seared straight through his protective scales and carved their anger onto his skin. That was something else Laxus had to pay for. Grimacing, Gajeel shifted his arm into an iron blade, briefly suppressing the pain. He raised the weapon and bent his knees, about to spring over and drive that blade into the other's body – and end this already.

Except thin arms closed around his chest, tugging him backwards. "Wha-?" he tried, but whoever it was had greater strength than those arms suggested, dragging him away from Laxus and into a house. The wooden wall bulged like a strange kind of liquid and parted to let them through, closing up again once they were inside. They didn't stop there either, moving through another wooden wall into the adjacent building before Gajeel managed to pull himself free of his kidnapper.

"What are you playing at?" he yelled.

At that moment there was an explosion in the street. Gajeel's eyes widened. The force he could feel sent a shiver down his spine. The house next door to theirs had been completely wrecked; if he had been caught up in that, with only the power he had left…

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" demanded Laki – his final teammate, who had saved him. "In and out, that was the plan! Erza warned me you weren't much of a team player, but geez… you really wanted to go one-on-one with _that?_ "

Gajeel grunted something unintelligible. But this time he followed as Laki began moving away, making them a path through the buildings with her Wood Make and concealing all traces of their passing. Laxus wouldn't bother to pursue them even after he had recovered enough to stand, since in this environment, Laki's magic made it too difficult.

They had succeeded in their objective. The instant Laki led them out into fresh air, in the street adjacent to the one where even now Laxus was undoubtedly crawling out from underneath the wreckage of the house Gajeel had brought down on top of him, she seized the cylinders from her belt, discarded the red one, and shot the green flare up into the air. They had Laxus where they wanted him. Now things were going to get serious.

* * *

This time, as soon as she saw the green flare shoot up from the town, Erza didn't hesitate to fire the blue one in response. Speed was of the essence here. They had to strike before Laxus could move to safer ground. She was hoping Makarov would be on the lookout for the signal, and would initiate Stage Three immediately; the final stage.

"This is it," she whispered. "This is what we've been working towards. Will Fairy Tail stand tall, or will we fall? Is this the end of our guild, or a new dawn… Laxus?"

Makarov had indeed got the message. Bells began ringing all across the city. It was out of their hands now. All Erza, Levy and Gray could do was watch from the rooftop and wait for confirmation of whether those bells sounded for a funeral, or for a baptism.

* * *

Like all residents of Magnolia, Laxus knew what those bells meant as soon as he heard them. Gildarts was back!

Panic washed over him like an icy wave. He froze. Was this… fear?

Why did that man have to return now, of all times? Laxus was confident in his own power, and yes, he was arrogant, but he wasn't stupid. Even at full strength he wouldn't have fancied his chances against Gildarts, and he was nowhere near full strength right now. One more hour and his plan would have succeeded-

And then he almost laughed at his own stupidity. Of course Gildarts wasn't back. He could sense that man's titanic magical presence a mile away. The moment he got anywhere near Magnolia, Laxus wouldn't need warning bells to tell him about it. It was an obvious bluff.

Was this what the guild had been reduced to? Their cowardly sneak attacks had failed, so now they were trying to scare him off? How they underestimated-

Then the ground dropped away from beneath his feet.

For the second time in as many minutes – and perhaps, ironically, for only the second time in his life – Laxus felt a rush of fear. The buildings were moving. He was no longer surrounded by solid walls, but by gaping holes. The air was a roiling mess of debris as the wreckage of the destroyed buildings was hurled into the air by the disturbance, battering Laxus from all sides. He tried to reach for something to cling onto, to use the debris as mid-air stepping stones to climb up to safety, but in the chaos and the noise and the confusion that gripped his exhausted mind, he no longer knew which way was up.

In the panic of earlier, he had completely forgotten about the Gildarts Shift. Now, as the chaotic vortex dragged him down beneath the city, he caught a glimpse of its inner workings up close: shining cogs; polished pistons; hydraulic levers; wheels larger than he was tall; spinning; hissing; whirring; the roars of compressed steam and the systematic pulsing of lacrima and the rising heat of magic built into the machinery.

This was bad. This was very, very bad. Without hesitation, Laxus activated Dragon Force as he fell. Magic power surged through his body, strengthening his muscles, sharpening his senses, and slowing everything down before his eyes. With lightning crackling around his hands, he landed against a cog twice the size of him, kicked off as it began turning, and bounded with inhuman speed towards the pavement above – and safety. He had almost made it out into the open when another wall he had damaged earlier could no longer take the strain of the Gildarts Shift and collapsed, catching his left shoulder in a glancing blow. He was slammed off course and thrown into a gap between two sliding buildings.

For a moment everything seemed to go black, but the sheer amount of magic power in his body from Dragon Force simply would not allow him to fall unconscious. With a snarl, he tried to stand – only to find that his leg wouldn't move. He glanced back to see that his right ankle was trapped between the grinding teeth of two giant cogs, shuddering and jerking as they tried to overcome the intruding obstacle and carry on their designated rotation. If Dragon Force hadn't been active, the pressure would have crushed his bones in an instant.

Another sharp stab of fear. This was _dangerous_. Where was the emergency stop? The Gildarts Shift should have shut itself down the moment it detected a living being within its machinery. In fact, it should have detected the critical damage it had taken from him and Gajeel and refused to activate in the first place, rather than further tearing up the street. Someone must have overridden the safety controls – and the only person with the authority to do that was the man who had implemented the system in the first place: Makarov. This was crazy. If there were other people around-

But there wasn't anyone else, was there? He had known that from the first battle in the empty houses. At some point, Erza and her lot had evacuated the entire centre of the city. That meant this was intentional. All of it. They had planned _everything_.

For the briefest of moments, his uncertainty was replaced by something else: admiration.

Then the gears tried a little harder to carry out their mission; splintering pain shot up Laxus's leg. Fairy Tail had done their best, and he had to give them credit for creativity, but if they thought he would be taken out by a mere machine, then they were sorely mistaken. _Let's see who will win_ , he thought. _Their trap or me._ And he might have grinned.

He shifted into lightning form once again. The pressure at his ankle vanished, along with the mundane force of gravity, only to be replaced by a far stronger attraction – the pull of the machinery. Below him was a sprawling maze of pipes, levers and cogs, all made of metal, stretched out beneath all the roads and houses of the city. He forced himself away from it and upwards, alarmed at how rapidly it was draining his power but far too determined to be stopped by anything like that.

Laxus shot out from the gap just as the cogs kicked back into motion. The two houses slammed together, rising up out of the way to form one wall of the path meant to guide the absent-minded Gildarts safely through town to the guildhall. It would be a long time before it would be capable of guiding anyone again. The buildings he had destroyed and walls that had crumbled in protest left deadly gaps in the barricade, revealing the flashing machinery below the ground. It glinted a portentous red and silver in the light from the deep furnaces which gave it life.

But for now, all he cared about was reaching solid ground. Satisfied that he had cleared another trap, he returned to his physical form, dropping down safely towards the road.

He never quite made it.

They were waiting for him. He saw it as he was falling: a glint of light on a rooftop a block or two away. The tell-tale flash of sunbeams on metal. A sniper: Bisca. A sense of danger.

Even though he was flying through the air, Laxus wasn't defenceless. He still had Dragon Force; he twisted himself round in the air with unnatural strength, and the bullet missed him by inches. It hit a crate a couple of metres away instead.

That crate hadn't been there earlier. He'd have noticed it, along with its impressive pile of companions. Crates with 'Warning: Explosives' written on the side tended to be quite noticeable.

Belatedly, Laxus realized that Bisca hadn't been aiming for him after all. The crate she hit exploded. Its neighbour followed suit. Then the next, and the next, and then the whole world seemed to join in the fun. Intense heat swallowed everything; blinding light shut out the sun; fire ripped the oxygen from his throat; ripples of force tossed him every which way, threatening to tear even his magic-reinforced limbs in two. He should have landed on the safe, safe ground by now, but the ground had most likely ceased to exist when the world had exploded. He screamed in pain, screamed in desperation.

Nor were they done. From adjacent streets the members of Fairy Tail emerged from hiding, racing to the roofs overlooking the explosion and adding to it in every way possible. There would be no running and hiding now. This was it; their final stand. The mages of Fairy Tail threw everything they had at Laxus all at once. Magic of every description: caster-type, holder-type, elemental, creation, moulding, weapon-based, powerful, weak, aggressive, status-inflicting, illusory, destructive – they took everything they had, and all their desire to beat him and protect their guild, and unleashed it towards him as an enormous inferno.

Fire and lightning, desire and magic power – it all rose up as a devastating explosion, the brilliant, glorious finale to Fairy Tail's last stand.

* * *

Though their plan had intentionally led Laxus quite some way away from the hospital, to the three of them surveying the city from the edge of its roof, the magnitude of the explosion was still as clear as day. Levy gasped; Gray laughed aloud. The handful of others on the rooftop with them were cheering.

"That was it!" Gray shouted. "That _has_ to have been it!"

"They actually did it!" Levy marvelled. "Everything went exactly as you said it would, Erza! That was incredible!"

Gray added, "Nothing could survive that, not even Laxus! It's over – we've done it, Erza! Fairy Tail won!"

"I don't like it." Erza's worried tone cut their celebrations short. "Why has there been no signal flare? Green for mission success; move on to the next stage. Red for mission failure; abort plan and retreat. They haven't sent either."

"They were probably too busy celebrating and forgot?" Gray suggested hopefully, but he understood the heavy weight of her words.

"Possibly they were caught up in the destruction too," Levy ventured. "We couldn't have accounted for how much Laxus's own power would contribute to the explosion."

Erza sighed. "We have to assume the ground team has been compromised. Let's save the celebrations until we know for sure."

"We'll go and confirm," Macao spoke up.

Erza nodded. She had insisted on keeping the Macao Squad – Macao, Wakaba, Nab and Max – in reserve during the main stages of the fighting. All were competent mages, and despite their usual apparent apathy for doing work or helping out at all around the guild, they had been as willing as anyone else to take on Laxus in the early parts of Erza's plan and had only agreed to stay in reserve once Erza had assured them it wasn't out of pity. It would have been risky to place all their resources out in the field at once, and her caution seemed to have paid off.

"Thank you. Send a flare as soon as you know what's going on. _Be careful_ ," she emphasized, though it was clear from their slightly nervous expressions that they already knew.

As they headed for the stairs, Erza returned her brooding gaze to the city. How she would have preferred to be out in the field, facing Laxus herself, rather than this waiting! Her paws twitched at her side, longing for the feel of a sword in her hand. Right now, the mages of Fairy Tail were her swords, and if anything had happened to them…

"Erza, cheer up," Gray tried. "It's probably over. I doubt even Gildarts himself would be able to walk away from that encounter. Actually, I'm kind of worried about Laxus."

"I know. I just have a bad feeling…"

"That's probably from all the fish you've been eating recently."

She ignored his attempt at making a joke. "I'm also concerned that we've still heard nothing from Warren."

The city had fallen silent. Everything had moved beyond her control.

"I'm sure there's a reason-"

But the cityscape didn't supply them with a reason – it supplied them with another explosion. Since the raid had begun they had grown accustomed to the sounds of destruction coming from the buildings below them, but this one was so sudden and so loud that it gave even them pause. Its thunderous boom drowned out the sound of each other's voices even at this distance; the dome of blinding white light, its surface crackling with lightning, was twice the size of the explosion they had managed to cause with a dozen crates loaded with gunpowder and the magic power of half the mages still active in the guild.

"That's… Laxus?" Gray breathed.

"That's _impossible_ ," Levy whispered. Her eyes were wide in horror, and shining just a little in admiration. "Incredible… if only we were on the same side."

"You should have seen him wipe out Phantom Lord," Gray murmured, his voice equally full of awe. "I'd never seen anything like it."

He would have said more, except it was then that he caught sight of Erza. She was not in a good way. The sight of that explosion had snapped something within her all at once. Violent tremors shook her body. Her eyes glistened with tears. Her breathing was shallow; painful; hunted.

"…Erza?" Gray asked hesitantly, but all he got in return was a strangled sound as she tried to cry, scream and breathe all at once. "Erza, it's alright, it's-"

In the fading light of the detonation there was something else – a red flare. It soared silently, despairingly, into the sky. _Mission failure_. _Abort plan and retreat_. Then, had the Macao Squad been caught up in that explosion…?

"I failed."

It took Gray a moment to realize it was Erza who had spoken. That dead voice did not belong to the Erza he knew. It was enough to send a chill down the spine of an ice mage. "Erza…"

"It happened again. Just like against Phantom Lord. I thought I could do this, but I can't. I was carried away by my own pride, and everyone in the guild has suffered for it."

"Erza, it is _not_ your fault! It was always going to be a long shot; you said so yourself! And look at what we _did_ achieve! We wouldn't have got nearly this far if not for you-"

"You know something, Gray?" Erza interrupted. She wasn't hearing a word he was saying; he gave it up as a lost cause. "I was actually _enjoying_ that. Matching wits with Laxus; carrying out the plan; trying to defeat an opponent stronger than all of my team combined. I actually thought it was exciting."

"Erza…" What could he say? Hadn't he felt the same? Going up against Laxus in Stage One when he was already so exhausted from his earlier fight with Evergreen had been utterly terrifying, but it had also been exhilarating. Everyone had played their roles superbly, refusing to give in to fear. He couldn't remember a victory as satisfying as when their teamwork had thrown Laxus's own magic back at him with the Organic Link trap. What was wrong with that?

"People were hurt, because of me. That explosion. How many of our friends were caught up in it, do you think? How many innocent spectators' livelihoods have we ruined with the destruction caused today? The houses we intentionally destroyed; the explosion we set off in the centre of the business district; _I wrecked the Gildarts Shift!_ And it was all for nothing. Everything we did and it didn't achieve anything. I wasn't good enough. Fairy Tail is finished… and it's my fault. Because I am so, so, weak."

And she took one step forwards.

One deliberate step forwards, over the edge of the roof.

One single step to a fatal fall and the solid ground below.

Shrieking, Gray lunged for her and his hand closed around her tail before she could fall. She writhed back and forth, twisting her little body ferociously, trying to break free of his grasp. Never in his life had he been more relieved that she was a cat. He pulled her back to him and wrapped his free hand tightly around her furry body. She struggled furiously, but his desire to protect her was stronger.

"Erza, what the hell?" choked a startled Levy. The girl was frozen to the spot in terror, unable to fully comprehend what had almost happened.

"Let go of me!" Erza cried.

"Not until you've calmed down!"

"Gray!" she yelled, but he wasn't having any of it. "You don't understand. You're back to normal already!"

"That's beside the point-"

"That is _everything!_ I thought I might actually be able to do something… even though I'm stuck like this…" Her struggles slowly weakened. The enormous sobs shaking her entire body were making it too difficult for her to keep up the physical fight against Gray. "I really thought I could make a difference. I thought I could save the guild. I thought that there might be a point to my existence, after all... but I was wrong. The city is in ruins. The guild is broken. I am utterly worthless."

With a grimace, Gray grabbed Erza with both hands and shook her up and down. "Erza, you're an idiot."

"Let go, Gray!"

"Shut up and listen. Yeah, the plan failed. Yeah, the guild's going to get disbanded for sure. Our friends are out there somewhere, defeated and probably in pain. But 'the guild is broken'? No. Look, Erza. Stop letting all the negative things blind you. Open your eyes, and look at Magnolia."

With great reluctance, she looked… and she finally stopped struggling.

"Tell me, Erza. Does that look like a broken guild to you?"

* * *

Their mistake had been in getting too close.

Laxus hadn't been difficult to find. He lay at the centre of a crater of ash and ruin, half his body pinned beneath a fallen section of wall. The physical characteristics of Dragon Force had yet to leave his body. Though his eyes were closed, his chest rose and fell with irregular motions.

"Think he's still conscious?" Wakaba had asked. "Should we fire the green flare?"

"I told Erza we'd be absolutely sure," had been Macao's response. He hadn't exactly been eager to step forwards, but he believed in her and her plan, so he had done so. He crossed the churned-up earth slowly, automatically trying to make as little noise as possible.

It wouldn't have made a difference in the end. He was still a couple of metres from Laxus when the Dragon Slayer's eyes shot open. His fist clenched; the muscles in his arm convulsed unnaturally. Then an eruption of light and lightning had torn up the world around them.

Sent flying through the air, Macao had the sudden and rueful thought that he _understood_. That hadn't been an intentional attack. For Laxus, it was just a reflex – the instinct of a wounded monster who believed himself surrounded by enemies. They really had pushed him too far, hadn't they?

And then he had hit the ground, and promptly blacked out.

He had awoken to find someone standing over him. Wakaba? No. The waves of uncontrolled magic power rolling off that figure gave him away. Macao tried to speak, but no words would come. Laxus turned and walked off without a word, and he fell unconscious once again.

He was woken again only a minute or two later, this time by violent shaking. Someone had grabbed the front of his jacket and was tugging at it repeatedly. "Dad! Dad!"

"Romeo?" he murmured. The face of his son slid slowly into view.

"Dad! You're alright!"

"I'm fine, Romeo. I might just… keep lying down for a little while, though."

"Okay." Romeo gave a brilliant smile, his eyes brimming with tears of joy now that the worry had been vanquished. Macao almost reached out to ruffle his son's hair – and then froze, seeing through the puppy eyes ploy.

"Wait a minute… I thought I told you to evacuate with the others!"

"I did!" his son huffed. Then his defiant gaze slid sideways. "But I was worried you might have been caught up in that enormous explosion earlier, so I came back to check…"

"It's dangerous! What if an enemy found you?"

"Laxus said he didn't care if I was here."

"You ran into Laxus?"

"He was here a minute ago. He only just left," Romeo shrugged.

Macao gave up. "Yeah, tell me about it…"

From somewhere off to his right, there came the sound of cynical laughter. "That _power_ , though," Max remarked, almost wistfully. "Is he even human?"

"He's the former Master's grandson, don't forget," Wakaba pointed out. "Not all of us have that kind of heritage."

Macao smiled up at Romeo, where he was knelt on his father's chest. "That's not all there is to it, though. He's worked hard. Especially since the Phantom Lord incident began."

"That's one way of putting it," Nab muttered.

Silence fell. The four of them – five, if you counted young Romeo – lay in the rubble, unwilling to move. The sun beamed down; somewhere, a bird began to chirrup.

"Don't you think he looked lonely?" Macao asked, suddenly.

"Who? Laxus? I was too busy being beaten up to take much notice," came Wakaba's dry response.

"I'm serious. I thought he seemed kind of sad."

"Sounds like you're just a sentimental old fool."

"I'm _not_ old! Don't make me out to be some uncool old man in front of my son!"

All of them laughed, even if the gesture just inflamed their bruises.

After another pause, Macao said, "It's strange, though. I'm not angry at all. I mean, I ache all over, and being completely taken out in one hit is pretty humiliating… but I'm still not angry at Laxus. I finally understand what Mira was saying earlier. When it comes down to it, we're not really enemies. We just have different ideas of what it means to be strong."

"Weren't we great, though?" Max marvelled. "We might have lost, but really, wasn't Fairy Tail just fantastic today? Once Erza took charge, and Mira convinced everyone, and Warren organized us all, and Levy did that amazing thing with the runes – it's the first time we've ever all worked together in the guild, all of us with the same goal, and we damn near pulled it off as well. In a few short hours, we went from beating each other up in anger to combining our power all across this beautiful city to stop Laxus…" His voice faded to nothing. He didn't trust himself enough to keep talking without revealing the mistiness in his eyes.

Nab summed it up simply. "It doesn't matter that we've lost. I've never been prouder to be part of Fairy Tail than I am right now."

"You said it," agreed Macao. "It reminds me of what Erza said earlier. Maybe some part of Laxus is so desolate because he wanted to be stopped, and even though we gave it our all, we weren't able to defeat him."

"Yeah. Perhaps I should be angry, after everything he did to the guild, but I'm just not. I'm so proud of everything we've done." There was a pause, broken by the tell-tale sound of Wakaba lightning his pipe. He breathed in and out with contentment. "In fact, I think I feel sorry for Laxus. Fairy Tail was absolutely brilliant today, and he didn't get to be a part of it."

"See, I knew you agreed with me!" Macao pointed out triumphantly. He was feeling a little stronger now. Romeo moved aside, allowing his father to push himself gingerly to his feet. Though he felt light-headed, he could just about keep his balance without support, especially when he saw Romeo watching him.

Following his lead, the others all began to pick themselves up from the ground. "Maybe you were right this one time," Wakaba grunted. "But you're wrong on another count."

"And what's that?"

"You said we weren't able to beat Laxus. But as I see it, we're not through yet."

Max pointed out, "We're out of plans. The Gildarts Shift was our last chance."

"There's always Erza's Plan D," mused Macao.

"Plan D? Wasn't that just for if Laxus got too close to the hospital and we had to move our base of operations to the old guildhall? I guess it's all we have right now, but at the very least we'd have to somehow lure Laxus to the guildhall…"

Macao curled his hand into a fist, causing purple flames to swirl around it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Romeo doing the same. "Then that's just what we've got to do."

His son grinned at him. "What would Natsu say if he saw the four of you slacking off here?"

"Kid's got a point," Wakaba sighed. "He'd probably say that if we could still stand, we hadn't given it our all." He and Macao exchanged glances. "If you dare to say 'I'm too old for this', know that I'll never let you live it down."

"I wasn't going to," Macao rebuffed. He glanced round at the others, all of whom nodded their determination back. "Then let's do this one more time. One final stand for Fairy Tail."

* * *

There were two streaks of light: a green and a red flare fired simultaneously from the same place. Erza stared. An accident? A second pair flashed up together, making that explanation unlikely. Then there was another, and another, and another – red and green together, all over Magnolia.

"What… what does it mean?" Erza whispered. "Green for move on. Red for failure. Those were the only two signals I told everyone. We already know the mission has failed. Red and green together doesn't mean anything!"

"I'll tell you what it means!" Gray laughed. All of a sudden, he felt so dizzy with elation that he could hardly speak. " _We've had to abandon the plan, but we're not giving up. We're not done yet._ Can you hear them, Erza? These are the words of the guild, given to you! Fairy Tail is _not_ broken! And this is not over!"

Erza couldn't speak. The living heart of the city that she loved, still beating, one red-green pulse after another; and the guild she would give everything to protect, its scattered members still walking forwards, one resilient step at a time. How could she even think about giving up? "Gray… Levy… Everyone… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I've been so blind…"

Gray set her gently back down on the rooftop. "Welcome back, Erza Scarlet."

"Yeah," she smiled back, through her tears. "It's not over yet, is it? But it doesn't change the fact that we're out of options…"

"Plan D," Gray said firmly.

Levy was less sure about it. "Plan D has too many uncertainties. We've heard nothing from Warren or the away teams, and Gray-! You yourself said you wouldn't be able to do it-"

"Gray," Erza interrupted, calmly. "Can you do it?"

"I can definitely do it."

"Are you sure?" Levy demanded.

"Yes. I know I can do it in the same way that I know the away teams will be there waiting for us. We're going to win. I bet Natsu's already wondering what's taking us so long."

She gave in. "Alright. I believe you. But we can't execute that plan from here. We need to be at the old guildhall, and how on earth are we going to get Laxus there?"

"Fairy Tail will lure him there," came Erza's confident response. "That's what they're all fighting for, right now. Believe in them."

"I do, but… even assuming they can manage that, what about you and Gray?"

"That's not a problem," Erza said. "Levy, Gray, watch! I've figured it out!"

A white magic seal appeared above her back, the first magic Erza had been able to manifest in this body. It shone with the pure light of heaven; a glimmer of hope when things seemed darkest. Then it was gone, just as quickly as it had appeared, and in its place were two small feathered wings.

"See? See?" Erza chirped excitedly, straining her neck to try and catch a glimpse of her new wings. She took off easily, flitting around Gray's head and turning happy loop-the-loops in the air. It was such a drastic change from her earlier attitude that Gray couldn't help smiling back. "Gray and I will fly straight to the guildhall and rendezvous with Warren's teams."

Nodding, Levy agreed, "In that case, I'll try to meet up with some of the others on the ground and lead Laxus towards you."

"Levy, you're in no state to fight!" Gray warned her, but the girl just laughed.

"The _guild_ is in no state to fight, but that's not stopping us!"

"We'll give it everything we have," Erza promised. She picked up the last signal flare, the violet one, and sent it shooting up into the sky. "Plan D. Let's end this. Once more, Fairy Tail! Once more!"

* * *

Why? Why weren't they giving up?

The guild had been utterly defeated. They had combined all their power, and it hadn't been enough to stop him. They had lost the Battle of Fairy Tail; they had reached the end of the game. It should have been over.

So, why? Why did those half-dead Fairy Tail mages keep throwing themselves at him, one by one, over and over, even though it was suicide? Why didn't they know when to quit? Why were they overcoming their injuries and their exhaustion, heedless to their own suffering, just for the sake of being hit by his lightning once more? From where were they getting this impetuous determination?

They had no hope of winning, so why were _they_ the ones with hope in their eyes, and he the one with despair?

A sudden blast of wind magic knocked him off his feet and sent him flying down an alleyway between two houses. It was a second or two before he could locate the caster, a mage whose name he didn't even know standing on the roof of one of the houses. His response was completely automatic. Even as the blast of lightning flung his opponent from his perch, the despair had risen within him once again: he didn't _want_ to do this.

He didn't want to harm opponents who were already defeated; who couldn't fight back. It wasn't a battle any more – it was a slaughter. They were all so hurt already. Why wouldn't they stop? There was only so much he could hold his power in check; if they kept coming at him like this, heedless of the depletion of their own magic levels, sooner or later someone was going to end up dead.

There was every chance he had already killed someone by accident. He had thought he had killed those men earlier, when they had approached him while he was only semi-conscious – when Dragon Force's survival instinct had been in control of his powers, rather than his conscious mind. He had to check that they had merely been knocked out before he moved on. That wasn't what he wanted! Were they just going to keep throwing themselves at him, over and over and over again, with no hope of winning? Would this battle end only when he had killed every last one of them? He didn't want these weak mages to be in his guild, but that didn't mean he wanted them to _die!_ That wasn't how it was supposed to go! He had defeated the guild! Let that be it; let it be over!

More enemies. His heart twisted painfully in his chest, but he was already moving to strike at them before they could attack him. There was no honour to this fight; there was no pride in being a part of it. Not like earlier, when the guild had pitted its combined strength against his and victory still hung in the balance. Perhaps some part of him had hoped all along that they would be able to stop him. But they hadn't. He was too strong. The guild was too weak. It just proved that he had been right all along.

"So what is it?" he screamed. "What are you possibly hoping to achieve?"

The silence all around him, the silence of the destruction he had caused, was the only response.

He remembered fighting against Phantom Lord. He remembered giving his all against Master Jose. There had been a moment in that fight when he too had been completely outclassed. If Makarov hadn't formally passed the title of Guild Master to him, he probably would have died. He hadn't backed down, then. He had kept pushing forwards, however unlikely victory had seemed, because he thought the guild – _his_ guild – might have been something worth protecting. That was before he saw how weak it was at its core; before he had understood that Fairy Tail wasn't what he thought it was; before he had come to realize that the guild needed to become stronger, and that if it couldn't become stronger, then it was better that it be destroyed than continue to go on as it was.

So, why?

"What is it you're protecting that's worth throwing your lives away for?" he howled.

* * *

Laxus wasn't expecting a response, but this time he got one, from the small, slim figure who had appeared at the end of the street. "Don't you understand yet, Laxus?" Levy asked, in a voice that might have been disappointed, or might have felt pity.

"Shut up!" he yelled back, flinging a bolt of lightning at her.

She raised her hands in response. "Solid Scri-" she tried, but it was no good. Her magic power still hadn't recovered enough.

Before the attack could hit her, something barrelled into her from the side, sweeping her up and out of the way. The world spun, and when it righted itself, she found that she was being held off the ground, safely tucked under the arm of a man almost twice her size.

"What're you hesitating for, shrimp?" Gajeel demanded, irritably.

Despite herself, Levy gave a rueful smile. "Turns out I hadn't recovered as much as I thought…"

He wasn't impressed. "And you're the one who told me not to overdo it."

"Oh, stop it. And put me down!"

He did so. Gajeel had broken through the door of one of the houses in the street. They were safe for the minute, but they could both hear Laxus's footsteps getting closer – those reluctant yet inescapable footsteps.

"-I'll distract him, and you can run," Gajeel was saying.

Levy placed a hand on his uninjured arm, stopping him in his tracks. "No. There's only one street left to go. If I trap him, can you get him over the houses?" The Dragon Slayer nodded without hesitation. "Then let's do this." On impulse, she added the words Erza had spoken like a battle-cry; the mark of their determination: "Once more, Fairy Tail!"

"Once more," Gajeel agreed, and the two of them burst out into the street.

* * *

The two of them should have been easy to deal with, but it was all over too quickly. As Laxus ran to meet them, a hole appeared beneath his feet, causing him to stumble. Gajeel seized the opportunity to strike him and hurl him into the air. It was with a kind of detached disinterest that Laxus noticed he was flying through the air yet again, while the other part of his mind, driven by the feral survival instinct of his Dragon Force, was already calculating how best to retaliate.

The moment the other Dragon Slayer got close, Laxus would finish him – and it was too late that he realized they weren't trying to defeat him after all. No sooner had he reached the peak of his flight then Gajeel's arm became a solid iron pole, rapidly extending in length to strike him with great force. Gravity was nothing against the last of the Iron Dragon Slayer's power; as Gajeel collapsed, his energy spent, Laxus found himself sailing in a great arc right over the row of houses to his right and into the street beyond.

He landed in a crouch, skidding backwards before coming to a stop. Oh. He knew where he was, now. It was a fitting place for this battle to end. Perhaps fate had brought him here, or perhaps there was something to be said for that nagging voice at the back of his mind, which couldn't help wondering if all the mages he had fought had been leading him here intentionally. Either way, he stood in a wide street with unnaturally high walls, casting a deep shadow down onto him even in the daylight. This was an undamaged part of the Gildarts Shift, fully activated, and that meant that this road only led to one place: the guildhall.

There it was before him, a ruin of its former self. From a pile of rubble not yet fully cleared away rose a bare skeleton of iron and concrete. At half the height of the original building, the iron support beams ended abruptly, a sharp reminder of the incompleteness of the guild. Born in optimism, and abandoned in despair; now, he supposed, the building would never be finished. Behind the lonely framework, the unattainable sun hung in the sky, watching the final confrontation from ever so far away.

Against that painfully-bright sun were two figures stood on the very top beam of the guildhall's scaffolding. One was a cat, and the other was wearing nothing but his underwear. They were fitting heroes for Fairy Tail, weren't they?

And then: _Erza is the one behind all this. If I can take her out, I can put an end to this suicidal madness_.

"Erza!" he shouted. "This ends, here and now! LIGHTNING DRAGON'S HEAVENWARD HALBERD!"

* * *

"Yes," Erza agreed quietly. "It does. Gray! Don't let him use that spell!"

"I wasn't going to!" he snapped back. " _Ice Make: Fresnel Lens!_ "

Gray was faster. As immeasurable magic power gathered in the street below, he raised his arms above his head, putting everything he had left into his new spell. Thin, lightweight, immaculate in its detail – the scaffolding provided a frame for the enormous plane circle of ice, lending it the stability and support that it had been lacking the first time he had tried this. This design could be made as large as he liked without having to worry about it collapsing on itself. His own magic power could never rival Laxus's, but he didn't _have_ to be the strongest, if he could think outside the box. Even Laxus was nothing compared to the sheer energy output of the sun.

The ice structure only lasted for a few seconds. Even with Gray pouring his magic power into it to keep it frozen, it didn't stand a chance against the intensity of the sun. Yet, with a lens of that size, that was all he needed to collect that vast power, condense it, and focus it all down onto that long, straight road where Laxus was waiting. The alignment was perfect; the guild had fought to get him there for a reason. The blinding beam melted the cobblestones, scorched the walls of the houses, and vaporized Laxus's Lightning Dragon Slayer attack in an instant of its intensity. And then the lens was gone, the enormous swathe of destruction seared into what remained of the Gildarts Shift the only sign that it had ever existed.

"Let's get down there," Erza instructed, grabbing Gray and flying down to the street below.

Smoke was rising from Laxus's body as he struggled to stand. That enormous untamed magical presence they had become accustomed to had all but vanished. Most of it had been burned up, stopping his body from being fried to a crisp. His Dragon Force had finally given out. Even so, he wasn't accepting defeat, not while there was still power left within him.

At the sign of sparks flickering at his fingertips, the two of them froze. Gray muttered, "You've got to be kidding me…"

"LAXUS!"

Mira's shout tore through the air. She emerged from a side street, Warren at her side – and running along behind her were all the away teams. Natsu and Lucy, Cana and Elfman, and Happy, all exhausted, all victorious, all ready to stand up for their guild one last time.

 _Once more, Fairy Tail_.

Laxus saw them, and he knew it meant that the Raijinshuu had been defeated. The air around him tremored. He swore, " _I will not lose!_ "

"Yes, you will!" Natsu declared. "Everyone, let's finish this!"

And so they threw themselves towards Laxus without a trace of fear.

"Fairy Tail is so much more than just a guild! _Go, Taurus!_ "

"It's our family! _Beast Arm!_ "

"It's our home! _Blumenblatt!_ "

"We would rather die than see it destroyed! _Prayer's Fountain!_ "

"And it is sure as hell not weak! As long as we stand together, there is nothing we can't do! _Ice Make: Lance!_ …Natsu, you've been useless all day – hurry up and end this!"

Natsu grinned. "With a flame on the right hand…"

Mira said, "Laxus, a guild isn't something that can be strong or weak. It's just a concept; connecting people who never should have met, creating friendships were there were none, drawing us out of loneliness and giving us somewhere to belong."

"And a flame on the left hand…"

"Drawing out power you never knew you had for the sake of protecting a comrade, putting aside our differences in order to achieve a common goal, refusing to give up on each other no matter what – that is Fairy Tail. That's what we're fighting for. And that is something that no one man can ever destroy, no matter his strength."

"When you combine the flames together…"

"Can't you hear them, Laxus? Everyone's voices… what they've been trying to tell you this entire time. Can't you hear them?"

" _FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME!_ "

Natsu flung himself at Laxus, and one final explosion lit up the streets of Magnolia. Even as the flames washed over them, none of the Fairy Tail mages flinched. The fire was cool to them, and comforting.

When the fire died away, Laxus was still standing at the centre of a half-circle of solemn Fairy Tail mages. He gazed at Erza, and Erza gazed at him.

Quietly, she asked, "Do you understand now, Laxus?"

"Yeah. I understand."

And Laxus collapsed, unconscious, at Erza's feet.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Oh, man. I had way too much fun with this chapter. From the Organic Link lacrima trap to weaponizing the Gildarts shift; from minor characters playing vital roles to Gray casually figuring out wave-particle duality in an afternoon; from everyone finally understanding what Mira was talking about and coming to regard Laxus with pity rather than anger, to Laxus himself realizing that there's no way he can actually win the battle - if you enjoyed reading it half as much as I did writing it, I'll be happy. One more chapter to go on this arc to wrap everything up, and it'll be half the length of this chapter, I promise! ~CS_


	17. Out of the Dark (Into the Fire Below)

_**A/N:** Chapter Seventeen, FINALLY back to normal length! I needed something short and calm after last week... ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Seventeen: Out of the Dark (Into the Fire Below)**

"Let's hear it for Levy!" Makarov was stood on one of the long tables, blissfully unaware (much to Mira's embarrassment) that this was not really a great thing to do while wearing a dress. His cheeks were slightly flushed from the celebrations, and in his hand he held an overflowing tankard, which he raised in toast. "Whose unrivalled knowledge of Letter Magic saved all of Fairy Tail from the disgrace of having to fight our own friends!"

An enthusiastic cheer swept across the scene. Levy blushed furiously and tried to wriggle under the table to safety, an attempt foiled by Lucy throwing her arms around her friend and hugging her tightly. People all over the guild were shouting out her name.

Even Freed was smiling as he applauded with everyone else. The Raijinshuu were stood together, a little way apart from the others. There had been a lot of uncertainty on both sides when they had nervously arrived back at the guild. The three of them had been fully prepared to accept their punishment for their roles in the Battle of Fairy Tail, and yet the guild had been so full of elation at their victory that no one was really in the mood for dishing out blame.

Much to their surprise, the hesitant stalemate had been broken when Happy and Gray, Natsu and Lucy, and Cana and Elfman – those who had fought against Evergreen, Bickslow and Freed – had stood up and argued for them to be allowed to stay in the guild, despite what they had done. Understandings had been reached in battle in a way that defied rational explanation: the Raijinshuu's desire to fight against their former friends for Laxus's sake was no different to the start of the battle, when the rest of the guild had been willing to fight against each other for the sake of stopping Laxus, before Mira and Erza had been able to draw them all together. Perhaps in its own way, their loyalty to Laxus was commendable, and the way they had graciously accepted their defeats and even helped out their opponents when a real danger was present showed that they still belonged in the guild.

Of course, this meant that the blame for their actions had to be shouldered in its entirety by Laxus, a notion which upset the three of them greatly, as it only made their friend and leader's situation worse. They had been invited to join in with the celebrations while they waited to find out what was going to happen to Laxus, but they hovered on the fringes of the circle of firelight. Their worry didn't really belong amongst the jubilation of the rest of the guild.

When the congratulatory applause for Levy had died down, Makarov spoke again. "And let's not forget Warren, who somehow put up with hearing our voices all afternoon, and in doing so made it possible for us to work together as a team!"

The cheering picked up again. Warren stood up and gave a mock bow, causing a wave of laughter to sweep across the merry crowd.

Makarov solemnly held up his hand for silence. "And finally, to the young lady who made all this possible: Erza Scarlet, who led Fairy Tail to the greatest victory in the guild's history!"

This time, the roar was deafening. "Erza! Erza! Erza!" The shouts of triumph, the drumming of feet on the ground, the whistles, the applause, the cheering – they could be heard throughout all of Magnolia. Even Erza couldn't help feeling embarrassed by all the praise. Natsu seized her and threw her into the air in celebration; much to the crowd's delight, Erza's response to this undignified action was to materialize her wings and flying-kick Natsu in the head.

Predictably, Fairy Tail's response to the end of the crisis had been to throw a party. They had assembled outside the ruins of the guildhall, dragging the long tables and benches back out of storage and onto the plaza once again. Cana had procured some more casks of ale from somewhere; trips into town had yielded carts full of choice cuts of meat, some of which were currently roasting over the large fires. By the time the celebrations had properly begun, night had fallen; a beautiful cloudless night, with the stars out in all their glory. Large braziers had been stationed in a circle around the plaza, and in the light of that fire, it might as well have been day once more.

It was difficult to believe that this was the same guild which had been in utter chaos just a few hours ago, but that was the beauty of Fairy Tail, wasn't it?

In the rowdiness and the company and the wonderful feeling of being safe amongst family, the events of that afternoon could easily seem like a distant memory. Even the pain of their injuries from the fighting seemed to melt away in the friendly firelight. Everything was right again with the guild – until Laxus returned.

His appearance was heralded by silence – a silence which swept like wildfire across the guild. In an instant, the mood shifted from carefree celebration to deep unease. Seeming to sober up instantly, Makarov placed his tankard down on the bench, a scowl crossing his face.

"Lax-" Natsu started, but Gajeel clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Can it, Salamander."

Laxus's gaze flickered once over the crowd, and then he began to walk forward. He held his head high in defiance. All eyes were on him as he moved between the benches, heading towards his grandfather. A makeshift bar had been assembled at the far end of the plaza. Makarov was stood in front of it, and Mira sat cross-legged atop it next to him; but for Changeling, it looked like an ordinary scene in the guildhall.

Only when he was stood in front of the two of them did Laxus stop. His gaze met his grandfather's for a brief moment, then slid down to the ground.

Makarov sighed. "You're a fool, Laxus," he said sadly. "An enormous fool."

"I know."

The old man just shook his head. "Why would you try to destroy our guild? I really thought you could have been happy here… I thought this might have been your chance to change. I suppose you take more after your father than I had thought."

Laxus said nothing. The guild watched and waited.

"Laxus! For the crime of endangering the lives of your fellow guild members, and for bringing harm to Fairy Tail, you are hereby excommunicated from the guild!"

"…Yeah, I don't think you can actually do that, seeing as how I'm Guild Master and all." Closing his eyes, Laxus gave a sad smile. "But I understand. I wasn't planning on sticking around if this didn't work out. I'll leave of my own accord. I don't deserve to remain in the guild after what I-"

Mira slapped him. Startled, Laxus staggered backwards; Makarov's jaw dropped. "Do you really think that was what we've been trying to tell you?" Mira demanded, her hands on her hips. "Do you _ever_ listen?"

"Laxus!" Natsu yelled, breaking free of Gajeel's grip to stand up and point defiantly at the other. "You're not leaving here until I've beaten you in a one-on-one fight and proven I'm the strongest!"

Erza gave a pointed cough. "That aside, you're still one of us. You know what that means now, don't you? Fairy Tail protects each and every one of its members. Even you, Laxus."

"Today was pretty bad," Cana spoke up. "But you also saved us from Phantom Lord, so as far as I'm concerned, it all pretty much balances out." There were murmurings of assent from the crowd.

Lucy added, "I remember when Phantom Lord attacked us in their robot base. We were going to run, but you got us to stand and fight."

"You never gave up against Master Jose, no matter how tough things got," Elfman supplemented.

"I remember how you rescued me from inside Phantom Lord's headquarters, after I was defeated," Mira smiled. "Like Cana said, we all owe you for something."

"Laxus, you were pretty amazing today," Levy admitted. "And, to be quite frank, so were we. You defeated Phantom Lord almost single-handedly, and then we defeated you. Imagine what we could do if we worked together!"

Macao added simply, "We need your strength right now."

"I think I speak for everyone when I say I'd much rather have you as an ally than an enemy," Wakaba said.

"What you did was utterly stupid, but you believed you could change something for the better, and you acted on that conviction," Gajeel stated. "Methods aside, that's the kind of Guild Master I respect."

"Basically, Laxus, we all want you to stay," Natsu explained.

"Not that we've forgiven you," Gray corrected hastily. "We're going to ensure you work harder than anyone as payback for all the trouble you've put us through."

"But Fairy Tail's still your guild," Erza smiled. "You've seen our conviction. It'll take a lot more than that to get rid of us."

Laxus just stared at them, utterly dumbfounded. "But… you… I can't stay here, after what I did!"

"You don't have a choice," Mira told him, folding her arms. "Thanks to you, we've got half a destroyed city on our hands, as well as our ruin of a guildhall and the Council's fine which we still haven't paid. We've suffered through a lot because of you, and you have a duty to undo the damage you've done to the guild. We're not about to let you just run away from that responsibility. We're going to rebuild the guildhall, pay off our debts, and rise again, and not until we are once more the strongest guild in all Fiore will we even _think_ about letting you leave, do you understand… Master?"

There was a funny, unfamiliar feeling in Laxus's throat and he didn't trust himself to talk, so he nodded lamely. There were tears in Mira's eyes, and she couldn't keep back an enormous grin as she hugged Laxus tightly.

Then she was abruptly pushed out of the way as Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow jumped on Laxus, laughing and crying tears of joy. That was it for Laxus, who could no longer restrain his emotions. Overwhelmed by the kindness of those he thought were enemies, he threw his arms around his teammates and wept freely. Mira smiled; the sight touched her heart. The rest of the guild rose with thunderous cheers, filling the warm night with life. Fairy Tail was complete once more.

* * *

Naturally, with all of Fairy Tail assembled in one place, it didn't take long for the merry feast to become a rowdy brawl. Gajeel, as it turned out, was just as competitive as Natsu; an eating contest between the two of them had quickly turned into a physical fight. Angry that Natsu was scrapping with someone that wasn't him, Gray had joined the fray, quickly followed by an over-excited Happy, and any hope that Erza might have quelled the battle before it could get out of control was lost when Happy accidentally knocked the slice of cake she was eating onto the floor and promptly added insult to injury by offering her a fish as consolation.

Before she could get caught up in the chaos, Levy stealthily slipped away from the table and went to find Mira at the bar.

"Hey, Levy!" the older girl greeted, but her smile slipped slightly when she saw the expression on the other's face. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, of course! It's just…" Levy took a deep breath, and let it out again slowly. "Mira, I know that now isn't the best time with the party going on and everything, but… I need to talk to you."

"Sure, I'll listen." That was dependable Mira for you. She put down the glass she was cleaning and settled into a more comfortable position on the counter. Levy sat down next to her on one of the stools. With most people involved in the escalating fistfight, they had relative privacy.

"It's about Erza. You've noticed too, haven't you?"

Mira's shoulders slumped. "Yeah. I had hoped I was just overreacting, but if you think so too…"

"Look, I think you should know what happened before the final battle…"

In a quiet voice, careful so as not to be overheard, Levy told Mira what had happened on the rooftop: how, without warning or explanation, Erza had attempted to jump. There was no question that without her magic or the ability to fly, the fall from that height would have been fatal; there was also no doubt that Erza had known that too. If Gray hadn't stopped her, that would have been the end. And yet only a few minutes later, with the revival of the guild's hopes, everything had been fine. Now, she was scrapping with Gray and Natsu like none of that had ever happened.

"I'm worried about her, Mira," Levy finished. "Those weren't the actions of the Erza we know."

"You're right," Mira mused. "But she was under a lot of pressure. When it seemed like our plans had failed and all hope had been lost, she would have seen it as her fault. She probably couldn't help feeling responsible for all the pain and suffering that the people of the guild had experienced while following her orders, even though no one would have blamed her for a second." She paused, remembering how she had been the one who had convinced Erza to take control of their guild's counterattack. "But that's over now. Besides, she looks happy."

Levy followed her gaze back over to the brawl. "I know… but Mira, it's not the fact that she might have been suicidal that's really bothering me – it's how unstable she is. It's how she could go from not thinking twice about throwing herself to her death to being completely normal in a matter of minutes. She rushed over and lectured Laxus straight away as if none of it had ever happened. And I'm grateful that she was able to recover, of course I am, but I can't help worrying. It's not the first time that such a drastic mood swing has happened recently, either, though it is the most extreme case. She switched from being completely unwilling to take charge, to getting so into it that she was prepared to gamble Cana's humanity and your own brother's life on a slim chance at victory, to crying over every little injury taken by the mages fighting for her."

Mira shuddered at the memory. She had been furious at Erza for suggesting Cana should use the Take Over, though it had all worked out in the end. With hindsight, she had accepted that Erza had simply had the faith in Cana and Elfman's ability to overcome adversity together that Mira herself had lacked. The one in the wrong had been her, for not having more faith in her brother… hadn't it? Was it really alright to gamble so much on such a slim chance of a miracle?

"She's been like this to some extent since Changeling began," said Levy, bleakly. "I saw her expression when she learned Natsu and Loke had switched back, and it was terrifying – and then it was suddenly gone. With every pair that changes back, while she still remains a cat, I feel as though the Erza we know is in more and more danger. And…"

"And?"

"And I think I've only made it worse. You weren't there, but it was when Happy was fighting Evergreen earlier. Erza didn't want to help Happy, but I told her that if she did, it would probably break the effect of Changeling. She helped, Happy won, but Changeling is still in effect."

"Were you wrong about Changeling? Or do you think that it has affected Erza differently…?"

"I don't know. I haven't really had much chance to compile the accounts of how people managed to overcome Changeling, which I'll do once the party is over, to figure out the similarities – but from what I'd heard, I genuinely thought that the two of them sharing their knowledge and using each other's magic would have removed the curse. But even if I did think that, I shouldn't have said it. I just gave Erza false hope, and it's made things so much worse."

"Don't blame yourself, Levy. You didn't mean any harm by it, and I'm sure Erza understands that."

"I know, but… I'm just worried. She may seem fine, but under the surface, I get the impression that she's dangerously unstable. It could only take one little thing to set her off, and… if Gray hadn't been there earlier…"

"Then we'll just have to make sure nothing like that happens until we've spoken to the others and found a way of undoing Changeling. The crisis is over now. Barring our lack of a guildhall, Fairy Tail is pretty much back to normal. I can't remember the last time we were this happy; this carefree. Things should calm down here from now on, and we'll have our Erza back in no time. Don't worry, Levy. I'll keep an eye on her around the guildhall, just in case."

Levy nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Things will work out. And now that the battle is over, I'll devote all my time to finding a cure for Changeling. I promise I'll figure it out, and get Erza back – and you too, of course, Mira!"

Mira gave a beaming smile. "Thank you, Levy. I know you'll be able to do it. You're our heroic letter mage, after all. And speaking of which… you seem to have an admirer."

"Huh?"

"Freed keeps looking over at you."

"What?" Startled, Levy spun round just in time to catch Freed glancing hurriedly away. He was stood shyly at the edge of the gathering, apprehensive about joining in with the conversation or the brawl. He was alone. If Levy remembered correctly, Bickslow was with Lucy and Loke, suffering patiently through the tenth retelling of how the Celestial Spirit (with only the tiniest bit of support from Natsu) had single-handedly fought off the Spirit King and his entire army to regain his status as a Spirit and return to Fairy Tail. She didn't know where Evergreen had got to, but she felt a twinge of guilt that the leader of the Raijinshuu had been left on his own.

Mildly, Mira said, "Well if you're just going to turn around like that, it makes it obvious…"

"It's strange, you know?" Levy told her, with a rueful smile. "Even though we use a similar kind of magic, and we occasionally run into each other in Fairy Tail's Archives, I've never really spoken to him before. But then we fought today, just him and me… and I feel like I know him so well now. It sounds silly, right? I mean, we weren't even in the same room, let alone actually communicating when we were competing against each other. But I just feel like we've somehow become close without ever meeting in person."

"Hmm. Didn't Natsu say once that fighting honestly and openly was the best way of getting to know a person?"

"That would certainly explain a lot about Natsu…"

"You should talk to him!" Mira chirped brightly.

"No! I couldn't! It would be really awkward-"

Mira ignored the girl's spluttering protests. "Hey! Freed!" she shouted, waving her arms above her head. Levy groaned, putting her forehead on the counter.

It seemed to be with some reluctance that Freed came over to the two girls. "Mirajane? Is everything alright here?" he asked, with a worried glance at the despairing Levy.

"Oh, yes. Everything's fine." Mira gave him an innocent grin. "It just occurred to me that I never thanked you for saving my life earlier."

"Don't worry about it. I am just glad everything worked out in the end."

"As am I. Oh look, Elfman's calling me. I'll catch up with you later." And pretending not to see Levy's glare or Freed's utterly bemused expression, Mira bounded down from the bar and returned to the party.

Levy and Freed looked at each other, both too awkward and shy in that moment to know where to start. After an uncomfortable pause, they both began talking at the same time.

"Freed, I thought-"

"I just wanted to say-"

They both stopped. Levy gave a reluctant grin. "Go on."

"Well, I wanted to say that what you did today was really impressive. I didn't think anyone in the guild would be able to overcome my Jutsu Shiki, let alone turn it against me. Mastering a new kind of Letter Magic on the fly like that… well, it was incredible."

Despite herself, Levy felt herself blushing. "No, no, you're exaggerating! If you hadn't been fighting Mystogan at the same time, I'd never have been able to keep up with you!"

The solemn mage gave a small smile. "That argument might work on other people, but we both know that the hardest part of this is surmounting the barrier between translation and interpretation. Incommensurability aside, the technical aspect of Solid Script is so different to my magic, and yet you picked it up almost perfectly."

"Yeah, I tried explaining that to the others, and they didn't get it at all," she grinned. "But you're the one who set up the language system in the first place. Such a complex, involved network – I wouldn't even know where to start building something like that! Even though we were enemies, I couldn't help but admire what you'd managed to accomplish."

It was Freed's turn to be embarrassed; he handled it even worse than Levy did. "Well, I spent a lot of time researching and setting it up. I could never have picked it up in such a short space of time like you did."

"I guess I just got lucky that you picked an alphabet I was already very familiar with."

"Just out of curiosity, why does a Solid Script mage have such an in-depth knowledge of ancient languages?"

Levy shrugged. "Personal interest? It's a hobby, I suppose. I've always loved reading, and it just kind of evolved from there."

"Just a hobby…?" Freed sounded rather awe-struck. There was another long pause; once again, both of them plucked up the courage to break it at the same time.

"Maybe we could-"

"I'd like it if-"

They both laughed, already becoming more at ease with each other. "Let's go on a job together at some point," Freed ventured. "I'd like to see what we could do if we combined our magic, rather than working against each other."

"Me too. I'd like to learn more about Jutsu Shiki from you."

"Hey, Levy!" someone else interrupted. She glanced around to see Bickslow and Evergreen approaching them. At first she felt a little intimidated, surrounded by the Raijinshuu, but she pushed the feeling away. They were back to being on the same side now. Besides, even those two would probably turn out to be as nice as Freed once she got to know them.

"Laxus said you were the person to ask about Changeling," Evergreen explained.

"Oh! Sure! Well, it started with this creepy request that the former Master had put on the board as a prank to get back at Natsu and the others for taking an S-Class Quest without permission. It turned out to be an ancient spell, and reading out the words on it caused the people in the room to swap bodies. They panicked, and asked me to help find a way to reverse it, which I, umm, failed to do. It should have worn off after thirty minutes, but because I'd been messing around with it, it ended up not only becoming permanent, but also involving the Master and some of the others as well. But the pairs have been slowly switching back – I'm trying to work out how – and even those that haven't yet are learning to use the other's magic that they've been stuck with, like Happy. Now it's just Mira and Makarov, and Erza and Happy who are still affected by it."

"Sounds like a creepy kind of magic," Bickslow remarked.

Evergreen glanced at him. "You're one to talk…"

"Of course, only Natsu would follow the instructions on such a mysterious scrap of paper without question," Levy sighed. "Actually, I have it with me, if you want to see." She had been carrying it round with her in her bag for safekeeping, and now she drew it out and tried to flatten the creases out of it. Seeing their hesitation, she added, "It's perfectly safe to look at, as long as you don't read it out in its original language."

Levy held it up for them to look at, and the three of them peered at it closely. She explained, "It means, 'By this eternal swapping, may you be forever happy'."

Freed frowned. "Well, I suppose you _could_ translate it like that…"

Startled, Levy looked at him as if she'd only just realized he existed. "Freed!"

Seeing her shocked expression, Freed sprung back as if he'd been attacked, waving his hands apologetically. "No, no, I'm not saying that you're wrong! It's just that I've seen cases before – especially older variants of northern languages – where inverting the usual order of clauses can alter the meaning of repeated words, and with 'eternal'-"

" _Freed!_ "

"…What?" he asked, positively alarmed.

"How stupid am I? We were just talking about this, and it didn't even _occur_ to me!"

"What didn't?"

"That you can help! Come on!" Without waiting for a response, she grabbed him by the collar of his overcoat and began dragging him towards the ruined guildhall.

"Where are you going?" Evergreen called after them.

"Where are we going?" Freed echoed desperately.

Levy's response was triumphant. "To the Fairy Tail Archives!"

* * *

Some time later, when the rowdiness had mostly died down, Gray and Mira were sat at the end of one of the tables when Laxus approached. "Mira, have you seen the old man anywhere?"

"Last I saw, he was having a drinking contest with Cana, Elfman and Evergreen."

Laxus scowled. "I guess I'll wait for him to sober up, then."

"You might be waiting a while. He seemed to be losing quite badly," Mira grinned.

"Against Evergreen?" Gray asked in disbelief.

"You'd be surprised," replied Laxus. He sat down opposite them, resting his feet on the table and staring up at the starry sky. As always, his harsh eyes and tall, tough build cut an imposing figure, yet that casual posture made him somehow approachable. Perhaps his obvious fatigue made him seem naturally less threatening, or perhaps it was just the simple fact that he was making an effort to interact with other people in the guild. His defeat had bridged the gap of power between him and them; their forgiveness had demolished his wall of arrogance. It was early days yet, but it seemed as though he really had changed.

"Say, Gray," Laxus said suddenly, causing the other to jump. "Ever says you went one-on-one with her earlier."

Gray tensed. Laxus and Evergreen were close friends – was this his promise of payback? "Yeah," he replied carefully. "I didn't stand much of a chance though."

"Not at all. She said you almost beat her three times, despite her using Stone Eyes at full power. I've got to admire a man who can go three rounds against Evergreen."

Unsure of how to reply to that, Gray opened his mouth and closed it again without speaking. After a moment of awkward silence, Laxus continued, "Was that a new spell you used at the end there? Ice Make: Mega Death Ray or something?"

"Ice Make: Fresnel Lens, yeah," Gray corrected.

"What the hell is a Fresnel lens?"

"…I'm going to get that a lot, aren't I? Maybe I should just rename it Mega Death Ray…"

"Say it as it is," Mira advised, laughing.

"Whatever it's called, I don't remember the last time I felt such power."

Gray laughed aloud, finally relaxing. Laxus was doing his best to make conversation - it just didn't come easily to him at all. But even if it wasn't exactly Laxus's strong point, Gray could appreciate the effort, and do his best to be friendly in return. "I'd love to say it was all me, but I can't really take credit for the energy output of the sun-"

"HEY!" Natsu interrupted. "What are you praising underwear freak for?"

As Gray glanced down, noticed his clothes had vanished, and scrambled around looking for them, Laxus glanced up at Natsu, who had appeared with Gajeel and Lucy. "Where the hell were you all afternoon, Natsu? I was sure you'd be the first to come and challenge me."

Folding his arms, Natsu looked away and pouted. "Erza wouldn't let me." Lucy and Gray laughed at this; even Gajeel smirked. Unfazed by their reactions, and as irrepressible as ever, Natsu pointed dramatically at Laxus. "But she's not here now, so Laxus! Fight me!"

Mira interjected, "Natsu, you're both exhausted, can't it wait?"

"I can't stand another moment of everyone going on about how strong Laxus is! _Fight me!_ "

"Not happening," Laxus grunted.

"Ooh, shot down," Lucy grinned.

Natsu wasn't giving up so easily. "Hey! You fought everyone else earlier, why not me? You're just scared of losing, huh?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

But, as usual, he wasn't listening. "Here I come! Fire Dragon's-"

Without even getting up, Laxus slammed his elbow into Natsu's abdomen, throwing him backwards before he could set any of the furniture on fire. Natsu lay sprawled on the ground, utterly defeated.

Lucy remarked, "One hit… yeah, I can see why Erza didn't want you running off now."

Natsu grinned up at the faraway sky. "But I'm only going to get stronger from here! One day, Laxus, when you're least expecting it…"

"I'm suddenly reminded of why I spent so much time away from this guild," Laxus said to Mira.

"But you love it, don't you?" she replied. He just rolled his eyes and said nothing.

Thankfully, elsewhere, the conversation was moving on. Lucy inquired, "So, Gajeel, you're going to stay in the guild now, right?"

"It'd be a shame to waste all that hard work I did saving you all."

The Iron Dragon Slayer's sharp red eyes flickered towards Laxus, who shrugged. "I don't care either way."

"That's his way of saying he wants you to join," Mira translated.

Laxus glared at her. "Stop putting words into my mouth."

"Sorry… Master," she added with a grin.

"Oh, shut up."

"Mira, Laxus, have you seen Erza anywhere?" This was Natsu, interrupting before things could get out of hand.

"No," replied Mira, while Laxus shook his head. "What's the matter? Has something happened?"

"No?" Natsu appeared slightly baffled by the alarm that had suddenly entered Mira's tone. "I was gonna challenge her to a fight instead…"

"But you don't know where she is?" Mira pressed. Their conversation had attracted Gray's attention, who met Mira's gaze. She knew he was thinking the same thing.

Lucy interjected, "She said she was going home a while ago. It's been a long day for all of us, so she's probably gone to get some rest before the work starts up again tomorrow." She looked between them, picking up on the tense atmosphere that had settled over the table, even if she didn't quite understand its cause. "Do you want me to go and check on her?"

Mira slowly shook her head. "No, I'm sure she's fine if she's at home. We're all pretty tired, after all."

"Okay," Lucy shrugged, moving on. She clearly wasn't overly concerned about Erza, leading Mira to suspect that she herself was just worrying unnecessarily. Erza had gone home, that was all. There was nothing unusual about that. In fact, it was probably the safest place for Erza to be right now – a place where she could rest and think things through. Erza was sensible, and besides, the battle was over now. They needed to stop jumping at shadows and just enjoy their victory.

* * *

As she had told Lucy, Erza had fully intended to go home – she just hadn't quite made it there.

It was a pleasant night, warm and friendly even at this late hour; the air was full of triumph and the familiar sounds of daily guild life. Erza was at peace. The guild was safe. Laxus was one of them again. She was more than a little proud of what she had done, and still almost unable to believe that they had all pulled it off. An outright victory in combat against Laxus wouldn't have been this satisfying, and without the guild coming together at Mira's urging to defeat him like it had, it would never have attained the feeling of unity that had allowed it to accept Laxus as their Master and look forward to the future. Yes, she was content.

Even the thought of having to work hard again starting from tomorrow couldn't dampen her spirits. She would get a good night's rest, and then first thing tomorrow, she, Natsu, Gray and Lucy would form Fairy Tail's strongest team again and take on the toughest jobs they could find. As she left the plaza outside the ruined guildhall, she glanced up at the Request Board, eager to see where they would be headed in the morning.

That was when things changed.

There was one job posted on the board which immediately caught her attention, and once it had it, it overwhelmed every other thought in Erza's mind. Memories, once suppressed, broke free from their prison and swamped her consciousness. Gone was the optimism; gone was the triumph; gone was the feeling of closeness to her guild. Gone was the confidence in herself, as if it had never even existed.

And in its place: fear. Loneliness. Horror. The guilt she had been holding at bay for eight years rose up in an instant and tore her apart. She remembered those she had left behind. She remembered those who had betrayed her. She remembered Jellal. And above all, she remembered being weak: the icy bite of shackles around her wrists; the humiliation of being tortured by those who had the gift of magic; the helplessness of being powerless to change her fate in that glorious, terrible tower which stretched up to the heavens.

In that one instant, Erza changed. The only visible sign was a single shiver which ran through her body. Her feline eyes had lost their lustre, perhaps, but that was all.

Yet there was a feeling of emptiness in the air around her, and of overwhelming grief. If Gray or Levy had been there, they would have recognized that feeling; would have grabbed Erza and held her tightly until she returned to them. But Erza was alone in that night. She could no longer hear the sounds of jubilation coming from the party; she was a world away from those who, right at that moment, were worrying about her whereabouts.

Erza flew up and snatched that request from the noticeboard, and then she disappeared into the dark.

* * *

It wasn't until much later on, when most of Fairy Tail had gone home for the night and those who hadn't were asleep on or under those trusty tables, that Laxus and Makarov came face to face. They stared at each other in the darkness, with only the occasional pop from the almost-extinct campfires to break the silence. It was difficult for Laxus to work out what the old man was thinking – especially when he was in Mira's body, pulling expressions of anger and mistrust that he had never seen Mira use since before her sister's death. The alcohol-induced flush on his cheeks, and his occasional swaying, wasn't helping much either.

"Lax…us…" the old man slurred.

"What?"

"If it were up to me, you'd- you'd… be out on the streets by now."

"You're drunk, old man," Laxus replied, unimpressed. Even he found it difficult to get angry when those words of provocation came from someone who had obviously had one too many drinks at the feast.

"You don't deserve the kindness of these people."

"I know."

Laxus's words were short; defensive. Beneath that simple concession to the other's insult, however, there was something else. It wasn't anger, but it wasn't quite meek acceptance either.

"You have no right… to be Master…"

He swayed one final time and fell. Laxus moved instinctively to catch him. He was about to say something in annoyance when he realized that his grandfather had completely passed out, and he found himself sighing instead, as his harsh expression relaxed a little. "Come on, I'll take you home," he said out loud, and picking up the old man's sleeping form, he headed out into the night.

* * *

 _Investigate the Tower of Heaven._

That was what the request had said. Innocent enough. It had come from the Magic Council, with an S-Class difficulty warning and a substantial reward. There was no other information, only a sketch of that enormous tower, complete at last: a single gnarled finger, warped and bone-like, pointing towards the sky it sought to conquer. The prison she had left behind.

No sketch could do justice to its horror. In fact, the image made it look almost peaceful. It could have been a statement of modern art, or some mad old mage's idea of a dream home to retire to. Not the desire of a man whose heart had been corrupted by darkness, made manifest in this world.

But, really, what should she have expected from a request sent out by the Magic Council? They hadn't been there. They didn't know.

Erza sat alone in the little cove behind the old guildhall, situated upon the small, secret stretch of beach isolated from the town and known only to those in Fairy Tail. The scrunched-up ball of paper that held the request lay several paces away on the sand, where she had thrown it. All was silent. The festivities were well and truly over. On this moonless night, the only light came from the ever-distant stars.

She gazed out across the lake. Her eyes were like the water's surface: dark, still mirrors; they reflected the stars above but revealed nothing of what lay beneath. Somewhere beyond the horizon waited the Tower of Heaven.

Surprisingly, she was calm. She might have been almost completely herself.

It had just taken her by surprise, that was all. To have seen that request, to have to relive those forgotten memories – she hadn't been prepared for it.

Why now, of all times? But a part of her knew the answer. Since she had escaped from that place, she had grown stronger. She had placed armour, figurative as well as literal, around her heart; she had protected herself so she would never fall like that again. She had mastered magic as well as swordplay, and in doing so, she had become one of the strongest mages in the guild – the undefeatable Titania. She had made friends, strong friends, who she could depend upon to look after themselves so she would never have to feel that heart-wrenching guilt of letting them all down once again. She was no longer that weak little girl who had been betrayed on the day the Tower should have fallen.

Well, she hadn't been. Until Changeling had destroyed everything she had been working so hard to build.

Without her armour, she was vulnerable to those memories. Without her magic, without her ability to fight, she couldn't keep pushing forwards. Now that she was weak once more, just like she had been back then, it was fitting that the Tower of Heaven would return to haunt her.

Why had everyone else switched back and not her, when she was the one who needed it the most? Sure, it wasn't just her, but she had it the worst. Nothing really bothered Makarov, and it wasn't like Mira ever did anything useful around the guild anyway. And Happy – well, he was actually better off since Changeling, wasn't he? As if taking her body wasn't enough, he had also mastered her magic, ready to completely take her place in the guild. A better Erza, a stronger one, without that fear of old memories holding her back. That was what everyone thought. No one needed _her_ any more.

 _It's not fair it's not fair it's not fair-_

She didn't scream it out loud, because she was almost completely herself.

Almost. And not in a way that would have fooled anybody.

But maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe there was still a chance for her to become strong again. All she needed was a way of getting her own body back – of reviving the old, powerful, confident Erza before the weight of her past and the weakness of her new self destroyed her utterly.

 _Revive_ … the R-System.

Of course. The weakness of her old self and the weakness of her new self, connected through time. It made perfect sense that the Tower would have chosen this moment to return to her life. Fate had placed that request there right when she needed it.

And as the first fingers of dawn brushed the horizon, Erza's gaze slipped once more to the discarded request.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Heh, as if I was going to kick Laxus out the guild after all that. He is my favourite character, after all, and I'm not done with him yet. The unity of the guild following the end of the last chapter aside, there are two good reasons why he gets to stay, having learnt his lesson. The first is that I think Mira's final point is really quite a convincing one, for a guild in as much trouble as Fairy Tail is right now. And the second is that Makarov has no right to throw him out of the guild here. Which was passed off as a bit of a joke earlier, but there's no guarantee that Makarov is going to take it that way..._

 _In short, if this were a story about Laxus, the first scene of this chapter would probably have been the end of the story - a nice happy ending for all involved. But it's not. It's a Changeling story. There's a lot still to be resolved, both with Changeling and otherwise, and quite a way to go yet. Tower of Heaven, the third and final arc, begins next chapter. ~CS_


	18. Shadow of the Tower of Heaven

_**A/N:** Chapter Eighteen, and what better way to kick off the new arc than with an over-the-top evil gloating monologue from its villain? It's totally a necessary scene to establish the chronology of this timeline, since I did swap the order of the arcs and all that. It's not just that I got a bit over-excited at finally having a proper villain in this story. Definitely not. ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Eighteen: Shadow of the Tower of Heaven**

No matter what the time of day, the chamber at the top of the Tower of Heaven was always shrouded in shadow. Windows in that room were few and far between; even when the sun was high in the sky, its light did not dare to penetrate into that place. What brightness there was emanated from the great crystal emerging from the centre of the floor. That shard of silver-blue lacrima, the only indication of the true nature of the Tower itself, pulsated with light like a slowly-beating heart. For now it was sedate; leisurely; placated. When the time came for its true purpose to be revealed, it would burn with the light of a thousand suns… and the Black Mage would return to extinguish each and every one of them.

It wouldn't be long now. After eight long years, the Tower was finally complete. For all that time he had walked the knife-edge between haste and secrecy, balancing the need to finish the Tower as quickly as possible against acting rashly, and giving the Magic Council cause to suspect that something with the potential to end the world as they knew it was being constructed right under their noses. Yet he had done it masterfully. The other R-Systems had been destroyed, but not his. He was the only one who had heard the voice of the Black Mage, after all. He would be the one to bring about his return.

His gamble with the Magic Council had paid off. He had never thought the councillors would fall for the old 'evil twin' trick, but they had swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Not one of them suspected that their perfect fellow councillor Siegrain, the youngest man to currently hold the title of Wizard Saint, and his younger twin brother Jellal, the mastermind behind the Tower of Heaven, were actually one and the same. Though, he couldn't blame them. Maintaining such a convincing Thought Projection at that distance – let alone being able to remotely channel enough power through it to maintain his image as a Wizard Saint – should have been impossible for any length of time.

But it wasn't impossible for him. He had been chosen by Zeref, after all; he had been granted dark powers by his god which surpassed the understanding of those fools who lived out their oblivious lives in the light. Only in the Tower was he the enemy of the Council. If he wanted to leave, all he had to do was slip on the persona of Siegrain, as easily as equipping that white cloak with the emblem of the Wizard Saints on it, and travel the world freely as one of the most highly-respected members of the magical community.

It had been a long and deadly game, though. One wrong move could have ended everything. If the Council had suspected Siegrain, and investigated the Tower after all… but they hadn't. Not until yesterday, when he had caught those guild mages snooping around at the request of the Council. It meant they were at last beginning to catch on – just a moment too late.

The Tower was already complete. By the end of the day, the final stage of his grand scheme would be in motion. They were finalizing the details of the plan to capture Erza Scarlet now. He was insistent that she would be the sacrifice. The ancient texts said that any mage of sufficient power – equivalent to one of the Ten Wizard Saints – would do, and if he hadn't been so determined to make it Erza, he could already have activated the Tower and resurrected his god. But it had to be her. It was just _right_ that way.

Erza. His memories of her never faded, no matter how much time went by. Her determination. Her compassion. The unfailing strength of her magic, born from an overwhelming desire to protect those close to her. Even back then, she had shown signs of the beautiful young woman she was to grow into. Malnourishment had not hidden her radiance any more than it had been able to diminish her spirit, nor had the rags she had been forced to wear ever stopped her from standing proud. No matter how dirty or matted the long days of labour had made it, her hair always blazed scarlet, a colour so strong and beautiful it had captured his heart. He was the one who had given her that name, after all.

They had only met twice in the eight years since that uprising, when she had escaped from the Tower of Heaven and he had seized control of it. Both times had been when he was posing as Siegrain, and she was at the Council on guild business. It was only because he had been acting through a Thought Projection on both occasions that he had managed to maintain his cover. If he had been there in person, his shock at seeing her would have been as obvious to her as hers was to him, but he had managed to keep control of the situation, and his illusory self had revealed none of his true emotions.

He had been able to convince her he was Jellal's older twin brother – though it was as much down to her unwillingness to accept the truth as it was from any quick thinking or rehearsed charisma on his part. She suspected Siegrain, he knew that. But she had also kept her promise not to tell anyone what had happened in the Tower of Heaven. As a friend or an enemy, he had always been able to count on Erza. And now, eight years later, everything was about to come full circle.

He had loved her back then. He still did. That was why it had to be her. After all, if it hadn't been for her, he would never have come to understand Zeref. No, it would be his beloved Erza who died, and it would be tonight. The time had finally come.

So the Lord and Master of the Tower sat on his throne, shrouded in the shadows that dwelt at its heart, and he smiled to himself.

* * *

Jellal was still smiling when someone knocked on the door. "Enter," he called, and the door swung open. The one waiting on the other side was Sho.

Sho looked angry. He was always angry these days. When they had been slaves here in the Tower, Sho had always been crying, but he had not shed a single tear since that day eight years ago. Ever since Jellal had lied to him and the others about Erza's betrayal, telling them she had abandoned them to their fate and fled from the island alone after burning the other boats, that dark shadow had never left Sho's eyes. Hatred born of corrupted love was always the most satisfying kind.

Perhaps, on that day long ago, if Sho had had the courage to stand up and say the failed escape plan had been his rather than letting Jellal and Erza take the blame, he might have been the one who met Zeref in that room of torture, and their roles might even now be reversed. That thought was a source of endless amusement for Jellal.

"What is it?" Jellal asked mildly. Nothing his subordinate could say would bring down his mood on this morning; the day of his ultimate triumph.

"There's an intruder in the Tower."

"Eliminate them."

"Well…"

Jellal's expression darkened. "It doesn't matter if they're from the Magic Council. It's too late for them to stop us now."

"They're not from the Council."

"Who is it, then?"

Sho hesitated, glanced up at that hooded figure on his throne of shadows, and took the plunge. "It's a flying, talking cat claiming to be Erza Scarlet."

"…Come again?"

* * *

"Let's face it," Cana said breezily. "If Gildarts returns to the guild, we're screwed."

Out of all of them, she was the only one who seemed at all cheerful, most likely because she was still drunk from the night before. It was no mean feat, given the proportion of her body that was swathed in bandages. By contrast, although he didn't have any lasting wounds from the previous day's battles, Elfman looked much worse for wear. A pair of sunglasses shielded his eyes from the morning sunlight, and he flinched at every loud noise. Still, it didn't stop him from grunting a sarcastic reply. "Not necessarily. If he comes from the east, we're fine. There's literally nothing left to destroy over there."

They stood in front of the guildhall, staring down the road leading up to it where the final confrontation with Laxus had taken place. As well as Cana and Elfman, Laxus, Mira and Makarov were there, along with the usual team – Natsu, Gray, Lucy and Happy. They had come out to survey the true extent of the destruction in the light of day. They were all regretting it.

As it turned out, the aptly-named 'Mega Death Ray' that Gray had aimed down the wide path at Laxus had fused the Gildarts Shift in place. The machinery which lifted the houses up and out of the way was completely mangled, having melted and re-solidified again in the intense burst of heat. That street would not be returning to its normal layout any time soon. On the plus side, the houses were almost completely undamaged, so they would easily become habitable again - as soon as someone figured out how to actually get up to their doors.

Natsu placed his arm around Gray's shoulders. Sincerely, he began, "Gray, I know I should be disappointed with you right now, but, really, I am just a tiny bit proud. This is a new record. Our team has never caused so much damage before."

Gray nodded gravely. "I heard you set fire to the biggest department store in Magnolia. That's impressive, even for you."

"You two are unbelievable," Lucy groaned.

It was a good job the others weren't listening. Mira had her head in her hands. Makarov's face was a strange shade of grey. Laxus seemed as uninterested as usual, but his stillness was unnerving. The worst part was that this scene of devastation barely even scratched the surface of the damage they had done to the city.

The high-end cul-de-sac where they had first ambushed Laxus had been more or less razed to the ground, and the damage to the surroundings had been immense. And that was not to mention the site where they had first tried to trap him in the Gildarts Shift. An entire row of houses had been vaporized by the explosion, leaving behind a vast crater of rubble and ruin. Further out from the epicentre, the buildings became gradually less and less damaged, with each stage of destruction preserved as snapshots in the successive streets. Starting on the outskirts of the city and walking in would have been like reliving the destruction of the buildings in slow-motion.

"I think we might be in a little bit of trouble," Mira observed, with a nervous smile.

"When the Magic Council hears about this, they'll murder us in our sleep," agreed Makarov.

"It might not be too late," Cana suggested, grinning. "If we kick Laxus out of the guild and pin everything on him, they might go after him and leave us alone."

Mira's response was swift and firm. "No one is getting kicked out of the guild."

"Until the Council force us to disband. And possibly stick us all in prison for property damage. Maybe if we get in there first and officially declare bankruptcy…" Makarov muttered.

Cana gave a sigh. "Come on, Elfman. Let's go do a job while we're still free citizens."

"I'd rather go back to bed…"

"But the more we work, the more money we'll get. And the more money we have, the more booze we can buy, and with booze, we won't have to worry about the guild's problems, see?"

"Umm…" Though not overly enthusiastic about going out on a job, he couldn't argue with her cheerfulness, or find fault in her logic. He followed her away, while the others watched bemusedly. Their motives may not have been the most convincing, but at least they were working for the guild.

"Lucy! Happy! Let's not get left behind!" Natsu was as fired up as ever. "I know! Let's see how many jobs we can get done before Erza shows up for work. That way we can prove we're better than her and start working our way up to S-Class!"

It was almost as if he hadn't noticed that the guild was doomed. But, Lucy supposed, that was what was so wonderful about Natsu. At least they'd be able to enjoy their last few days working together before the Magic Council disbanded them for good. Not wanting to be left behind, Gray joined them and the four of them headed off in search of a job to do.

That just left Laxus, Mira and Makarov. A chill wind blew suddenly down the street, carrying dust and fragments of blackened wood along with it. Mira shivered.

But it was Makarov who sighed, and spoke solemnly. "I suppose I'd better go and get on the train to Era."

"No," Laxus replied. "Dealing with the Magic Council is Mira's job."

Both the others looked at him in surprise. "Umm, Laxus," Mira began awkwardly. Putting her thoughts into words was difficult, when she was trying her hardest not to offend either of the two men stood in front of her. "I really don't think I'm the best person for the job."

His brooding eyes flicked across to hers. He was going to make her say it. Fine. She was ashamed, but not timid. "I told you what happened last time I went! I messed up, and the guild was landed with a huge fine because of me. We haven't even been able to pay it off yet. If you send me, I'll only make things worse again."

"I don't believe that. You can do this, can't you?"

His faith in her was flattering, but being patronized wasn't what she needed right now – and that attitude wasn't going to help the guild one bit either. They needed the best person for the job. "No! I've already proven that I can't! Let the former Master go instead, _he_ knows how to handle the Council!"

Laxus shook his head. Mira looked at him in despair. Fortunately, Makarov came to her rescue. "Mira is right. Reporting to the Magic Council is the job of the Guild Master."

"That doesn't make it your job any more than it makes it hers, old man."

"No!" Makarov suddenly snapped. "It makes it _your_ job! But you're not volunteering, are you? Of course not! That would mean owning up to your mistakes!" He waved his arm aggressively towards the swathe of destruction carved into the streets. "All of this is _your_ fault! But are you prepared to stand up and take responsibility for the damage that you've done? No!"

"I would happily take responsibility!" Laxus shouted back. "But it wouldn't help the guild right now! Everything we said about facing the Magic Council last time still applies – Fairy Tail needs to appear strong and capable; springing a new Master or Changeling on the Council right now would shatter any confidence they might still have in the guild!"

"Oh, so you're caring about the guild now, are you? That's funny. I don't recall you being concerned for our welfare when you were making us fight each other in the streets!"

"Stop it, both of you!" Mira screamed, jumping in between them, her arms raised. Lightning crackled through the air, inches away from her outstretched hand. She gazed earnestly at Laxus, silently begging him to stop; with a supreme force of will, he brought his temper under control, and the sparking magic subsided.

Taking a deep breath, she declared, "I'm going to Era. I have unfinished business with the Magic Council. I think it'll be better if I go before they officially summon me, so I can try to smooth things over before they realize the true extent of the damage to Magnolia."

She took their shared silence as acceptance. "Thank you. Look, Fairy Tail needs to be strong right now. The worst is yet to come. So please, both of you, stop this squabbling and focus on keeping the guild together… okay?"

Neither of them said anything. They were both stubborn men; in that respect, the family resemblance could clearly be seen. The silence was unnerving.

Mira turned her back on them and headed for the train station, trying to fight back the feeling of dread rising in the pit of her stomach.

* * *

"Kitty!"

Erza stirred at the sound of that high-pitched squeal. Her memories of the past few minutes returned to her in a rush. She had arrived at the Tower of Heaven after a long and exhausting flight across the sea. None of the guards had paid the small flying cat any attention until she had got close to the top of the Tower, and then… then what?

She tried to stretch the weariness out of her bones, only to discover that her tiny wrists were bound behind her back. She strained against the rope to no avail. As a cat, she had none of the physical strength she needed to break free. Someone had tied her securely to something.

Oh, that was right. It had been Sho she ran into in the Tower. Seeing him again after such a long time had startled her – though, looking back, she hadn't been as surprised as he was, when she had tried to reason with him. He hadn't believed a word she had said about being Erza, and she couldn't blame him. Her old friend, who had been like a brother to her back when they had been slaves, had attacked her as he would attack any suspicious intruder… and she had woken up here, in the presence of another familiar person.

"Don't worry," the girl reassured her cheerfully, as she tugged at the bonds holding Erza in place. "I'll get you out of here before he comes back. That Sho is so mean, tying up a cute little kitty cat like you!"

"Millianna, is that you?" Erza murmured. The question was a rhetorical one. Though the young lady in front of her looked nothing like the dishevelled little girl she still saw in her nightmares, it was definitely her. Erza had never been able to forget those she had left behind.

Yet Millianna seemed to be doing well. She looked perfectly at home in a trendy jacket and flashy skirt, a far cry from the plain rags which had barely concealed her modesty back then. Bold painted stripes gave her face a tiger-ish, warrior-woman appearance, while the fake cat ears nestled amongst her wild brown hair proved that eight years had not been long enough for her to grow out of her obsessive love for feline creatures. No longer was she malnourished and fragile – she bounded around the place with a lively spirit that, on any other day, would have lifted Erza's heart.

So Jellal hadn't lied, on the day of their parting. He really had improved living conditions for those working in the Tower. And Sho, Millianna, and probably her other friends from back then were still here too, working for him. Erza hadn't counted on that.

But it didn't change anything. It didn't alleviate her guilt. It had just taken her by surprise, that was all.

Millianna let out a squeal of delight. "The kitty cat knows my name! It must be fate that brought us together! Jellal's so mean, not letting me keep any pets…"

Humming to herself, Millianna continued to struggle with the ropes, not seeming to care that a talking cat was an oddity in itself, let alone a talking cat that knew who she was. Erza sighed. Then her ears pricked up at the sound of footsteps. Was that Sho coming back? Would she have more of a chance of getting through to him? Unlikely. She needed to get away from here as quickly as possible, and find Jellal.

"Millianna, listen to me," Erza urged. "It's me, Erza! You remember me, don't you?"

"Hmm? Erza?" Millianna purred, and then her eyes widened. "You have the same name as that girl who betrayed us? You poor, poor kitty! Don't worry, I'll-"

"No, Millianna, I _am_ that Erza! And I didn't betray you!"

"Of course you did. Erza." As if a switch had been thrown, the excitable passion vanished from Millianna's voice, replaced by an accusation. Her eyes had lost their lustre. Stormy clouds moved within them as she looked at Erza and saw only a memory. "Erza betrayed us. We were going to escape together, but she left alone and destroyed the other boats. If Jellal hadn't warned us of her treachery, we would have been on board those ships when they turned to ash…" She shook herself vigorously. "But you'd never do anything like that. You're a cat. Cats are playful and friendly and cheerful. Only humans betray their friends."

"That's not what happened!" The footsteps had stopped. Had they moved beyond her hearing when she had been preoccupied listening to Millianna, or was that person even now waiting silently outside their room, listening to every word she said? "Jellal set fire to the boats, not me. I wanted to escape with everyone, but he… he needed you for his plan. He couldn't let you get away. I don't know what lies he told you, but I would never betray you like that!"

The loosened ropes fell to the floor, but Erza didn't move. Desperation held her in place – desperation and guilt. For a moment, she couldn't even remember why she had come back to this place. Fear had kept her away for eight years – fear of what Jellal would do to her friends if she broke her promise and returned, yes, but also the fear of exactly this confrontation: facing the friends she had abandoned, and being held to account for everything she had done.

A shaking hand closed around Erza's furry body. At first, she thought this was Millianna's way of showing affection – but she didn't need to squeeze her so tightly. It was difficult to breathe. Colours flashed before her eyes; too late, she began to panic. This body was weak. She was helpless.

"Jellal lied about a lot of things," Millianna murmured, as that horrible dead look clouded her face once again. "But Erza left, and never came back. She abandoned us on this island. That was her betrayal."

Her grip intensified. That fear rose up in Erza now, numbing everything else. She had been too weak to run away from her past; too weak to deny her sins and move on. When the false strength she had found shelter in for eight long years was torn away, the truth finally made itself known. She would always be incapable of doing anything.

And then there was a single thought, breaking through the mire of despair. _Oh, I remember. I came back here… in order to become stronger_.

With that thought came power. It surged through her like a flare in the dark night, snatching away what was left of the breath in her lungs. All of a sudden, she knew that if she wanted to break out of that grip, she could do so. She could force her wings to appear. She could move with a speed that would tear those crushing fingers straight out of their sockets. She didn't _have_ to be so weak and helpless.

But before she could do any of that, the lights in the room suddenly went out.

Millianna gave a startled yelp. The fingers clutching Erza slackened, and she seized the opportunity to push them aside and wriggle free. She didn't understand what was going on, but she wasn't about to pass up this chance.

However, she hadn't taken more than two steps through the pitch-black darkness when she was grabbed once again. She was lifted up by the scruff of her neck and carried forwards, blind and disoriented. She had no breath left to scream with.

And then a hesitant voice cut through the darkness. "Erza? Is it really you?"

"Simon?" Erza whispered.

The next thing she knew, he had pulled her into a tight hug. "I am so glad you're alive," her old friend replied. Abruptly the lights came back on; this time, she felt the faint discharge of magic power as the spell of darkness was negated, and she guessed it was Simon who had caused the blackout in order to rescue her. The sudden light was blinding. She buried her face into his chest as he held her tightly. In the warmth of his arms, the darkness seemed to melt away.

"I knew you hadn't betrayed us," he murmured, as if he was consoling her. "I never believed Jellal's lies. I kept hoping that you'd come back one day, to put an end to this madness. Erza, thank you… for coming back."

"I'm sorry it took me so long."

"Don't be. If you were happy out there in the outside world all this time, then that's all that matters."

His honest words made her want to cry with happiness. And yet underneath that feeling of being safe in his arms was an undercurrent of vicious anger, swiftly rising. Those words – self-sacrificing, noble, so goddamn sanctimonious – made her want to scream in anger. Why was he the one reassuring her? Why was he happy that he had given up everything for her? Why was she still so dependent on the people around her, after eight wasted years of trying to build up walls? Why wasn't she stronger? That warm embrace was smothering.

"Why are you a cat?" Simon asked curiously; derailing her train of thought before its feelings could make themselves known.

"It's a long story. Simon, Jellal's here, isn't he? Can you tell me where he is?"

She felt his hesitation. Even after all this time, he was still jealous, wasn't he? Jealous that Jellal was the one she had fought for, and not him, no matter how much he loved her. But he _did_ love her, and that was why he would put all those feelings aside for her sake; sacrifice everything for her over and over again. How she hated it.

"Have you come to stop him?"

"Yes," said Erza. "I have."

Simon gave a slow nod. "Then I'll take you to him."

* * *

"Alright! That's another one!" Natsu cheered. "Just two more to go!"

"I can't believe we are doing this…" was Lucy's response. She was sat on a rock in the middle of the green pasture, gazing despairingly out across the surrounding countryside. Her mood was not helped at all by Gray strolling into her line of sight with a sheep tucked under each arm.

"Natsu! I've found the last ones!" Gray caught Lucy's eye and scowled. "What are you looking at?"

"Join a mage guild, they said," Lucy muttered under her breath. "Go on adventures, they said."

Gray tossed the sheep into the pen and closed the gate behind them. "Hey, everyone's working hard today. It's not our fault that all the good jobs have been taken." He clapped his hands together, looking far too pleased with himself for a man who had spent the past hour scouring the countryside for escaped livestock. "Thirty-two sheep safely recovered. That's a job well done. Let's go collect our payment and head back to the guild."

Lucy was not at all enthusiastic. "Yes, let's do that…"

It wasn't long before she, Natsu, Gray and Happy were back on the road, heading for Magnolia. They were walking because Natsu had refused to get a carriage – he claimed it was for money-saving purposes, and though all the others knew the truth of the matter, they figured they'd actually prefer to walk than spend time in a vehicle with Natsu. Apart from Lucy, the others were in high spirits, bragging about how many sheep they had caught. She wanted to hit her head repeatedly against a wall.

"Look at it this way, Lucy," Natsu began, in an attempt to cheer her up as they re-entered the building site that was their makeshift guildhall. "We've done three jobs already this morning, and it's not even lunchtime! Fairy Tail's strongest team is on a roll once more!"

"Natsu, just two weeks ago we prevented the resurrection of a frozen demon and saved an innocent village from a terrible curse. Today, we've rounded up escaped sheep, delivered Magnolia's post, and baked cakes for a village fête. Is it just me, or are the standards of Fairy Tail's strongest team slipping slightly?"

He just grinned. "The important thing, Lucy, is that we've done three jobs more than Erza. She hasn't even shown up for work yet! Talk about laziness…"

Natsu meant it as a joke – or, at the very least, as an innocent challenge to the colleague who he was always aiming to outdo. He wasn't expecting Gray to suddenly round on him, eyes flashing. "What do you mean, Erza hasn't turned up yet?"

Shrugging, Natsu took a step back. "Well, have you seen her around the guild at all today? Trust her to be slacking off on the first day of everyone pulling together to pay for the damages to the city."

"That doesn't sound like Erza at all," Gray pointed out. He remembered the scene on the rooftop and shuddered. "Something's happened to her. I know it."

Worried by her friend's sudden change in mood, Lucy tried to reassure him. "It's a bit early to be jumping to conclusions. Maybe she just slept in. I imagine quite a few people would have sided with Elfman this morning…"

Gray just shook his head. "That's not like her either."

Now that they were back in the guild, they could begin to ask around and gather information. No one had seen Erza since the party last night. They passed Laki as she was carrying iron poles twice as long as she was up to the construction site, and she informed them that she had knocked on Erza's door that morning on the way from the girls' dorm to the guild, and received no response. She had thought nothing of it at the time. Erza had probably already left to start work. But Gray was growing increasingly agitated for reasons he wouldn't share with the others. No matter how they tried to reassure him, he would not be placated.

Natsu was losing patience. "She's probably just gone on a job!"

"On her own? As a cat?"

"Maybe she went with people, I don't know, it's a big guild!"

"And not with us? And no one has seen her at all today?" Ignoring their attempts to pull him back, Gray stormed towards the Request Board. "If there's a job she may have taken…"

But that was no use. Requests were pouring in every minute, and were being taken on just as quickly. It would be impossible to try and find out who had accepted what over the course of the busy morning. Gray stared up at the board, his frustration mounting, waiting for something to jump out at him – something that should have been staring him in the face.

"Looking for something in particular, Gray?" asked Nab. Gray started – he had been so involved in his search that he hadn't noticed the other mage standing right next to him. Not that it was a surprise to see Nab there. He spent most of his working life gazing up at that board, waiting for the perfect job to fall into his lap.

"Erza," was Gray's bleak reply.

To his surprise, Nab gave a sage nod. "And you think it's to do with the missing S-Class request, then?"

Gray rounded on him with the ferocity of a lion. "What missing request?"

"The S-Class one that's been there for a few days," Nab told him, bewildered by the sudden interrogation. "From the Magic Council. Something to do with a place called the Tower of Heaven. It vanished last night."

"Are you sure?"

"Let's face it," Natsu breezed, strolling up behind him. "If anyone would notice a job going missing, it would be Nab."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Nab shrugged.

Lucy grabbed Gray's arm before he could run off. "Hang on, Gray. Just because an S-Class Quest has disappeared doesn't mean Erza has taken it."

"Who else?" he demanded savagely. "Laxus is here, Mira is in Era, Mystogan hasn't been seen since the battle ended – there's no one else who could have accepted it!" Struck by a sudden idea, he ran towards the skeleton of the guildhall. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he yelled up, "Hey! Laxus!"

Their Master was stood on a horizontal beam high above the ground, welding together parts of the metal framework. Sparks cascaded all around him; the others helping out with the construction work gave him a wide berth. He heard Gray's shout and scowled. "Such a pain," he muttered to himself, but the sparks ceased and he began to climb back down the scaffolding. He came to a halt on the ground in front of them and folded his arms. "What?"

Gray wasn't at all intimidated. "An S-Class Quest is missing from the Request Board. Has anyone taken it?"

The other shrugged. "No one ran it by me."

"Nor me." This was Makarov, approaching from behind, a stern look on his face. "Are you suggesting someone has taken it on without permission?"

"Only Natsu is stupid enough to do something like that," Happy pointed out innocently.

All eyes turned towards the Dragon Slayer. Natsu threw up his arms in protest. "It wasn't me! I've been rounding up farm animals with these guys all morning, honest!"

Gray confirmed, "That's true. I think Erza may have taken the request."

"That doesn't make any sense." Makarov frowned. "She has no magic. Why would she take on an S-Class Quest alone, without telling anyone, now of all times?"

"I don't know. But something isn't right, and I want to go after her."

"Erza's a sensible girl. She can look after herself-"

"No, she can't! You didn't see-" Gray stopped himself with an effort and let out a great, shuddering breath. "I'm going to the Tower of Heaven."

And with that, he began to stride away. After a few paces he paused, glancing curiously over his shoulder, as if to ask why no one was trying to stop him.

"Do what you want," Laxus stated. "I don't care."

"It's your job to care," his grandfather reprimanded. Though his words were neutral, there was acid in his tone. "Letting Fairy Tail's strongest members take on a dangerous mission right now because of circumstantial and incomplete evidence is reckless. Not to mention, that job was labelled as S-Class for a reason."

Lucy looked anxiously between them. "Yeah, and what about earning money for the guild?"

"The guild's screwed anyway, no matter what we do," was Gray's dark response. "My friend is in trouble. I'm going after her, no matter what."

"Then go already," Laxus told him, almost impatiently. When they looked at him in surprise, he said, "Being there for each other in moments of trouble is the point of a guild, isn't it? Everything else is secondary. Erza went through a hell of a lot to teach me that. It would be pretty pointless if I couldn't stick to it the one time she needed help."

"I'm coming too," Natsu added.

"Don't forget me!" Lucy spoke up, with Happy nodding his agreement. "If we head to the port, we can get a boat straight there."

"Then let's go to the Tower of Heaven!" Gray declared, with more confidence than he felt, and the four of them headed for the ocean.

As he passed Laxus, he thought he heard the other murmur, "Bring her back, Gray. I owe her one."

"I don't need you to tell me that," Gray replied darkly. And he walked away with steel in his eyes, the only outward sign of the shadow of foreboding which had closed around his heart.

* * *

They met in the darkness of that chamber at the top of the Tower of Heaven, for the first time in eight years. They gazed at each other, the cat who had overcome her past and surpassed guilt to stand there without fear, and the cloaked man who sat on his throne of shadows.

Jellal's eyes glittered in the crystal's sickly light. As always, he projected an aura of confidence and malevolence, but it was superficial. Beneath it lurked something else – amusement, or perhaps even slight bewilderment, as if he was aware this was all some kind of joke but didn't know how to deal with it other than to play along. He was equipped to deal with righteous heroes racing in to end his evil schemes; the appearance of a cat who had been his closest friend and then his bitter enemy had thrown him for a loop.

Perhaps only someone who knew him as well as Erza did – someone who was not, to her own surprise, intimidated by such power and such darkness – could have noticed the cracks in his composure. She grasped onto that observation and used it to push away all the other thoughts which had risen in her unbidden at the sight of her old friend. She would not let anything, be it fear or compassion, sway her resolve.

"So, I assume you're the cat claiming to be Erza."

"Not claiming to be. I _am_ Erza."

"Is that so?" he asked coolly.

"I never told anyone the truth about my name. Scarlet, the colour of my hair. You gave me that name, Jellal… don't you remember?"

He did remember. If Erza's resolve was letting her keep a tight lid on her emotions, then for Jellal, it was the complete opposite. While outwardly he still held the calm self-assurance that had carried him through eight years of ruling over the Tower, inwardly, his emotions were seething like a thunderstorm. There were feelings he hadn't known since childhood: adoration; respect; admiration; the desire to protect, not to harm, another human being. They brought with them a rush of pain, physical as well as emotional. His right eye, which had been permitted to gaze upon the divine ghost of Zeref and even now bore the Black Mage's mark, burned unbearably hot.

Yet below all that surged a terrible undercurrent of excitement. His heartbeat quickened; his shallow breathing intensified; beneath the concealing cloak, his limbs quivered with anticipation.

 _All this time, all this planning, and_ she _has come to_ me.

He wanted to laugh out loud with glee. The sacrifice he needed to active the R-System had wandered right into his lap. After eight long years, the path had opened up before him of its own accord. He didn't need to wait for those fools to bring him the last piece of the puzzle – the Tower could be activated right here and right now. He was on the verge of achieving that which he had been working towards his entire life, and that dark thrill banished all momentary thoughts of affection from his mind.

To think that after everything, Erza would come to him. It was just too easy.

"Don't you believe me?" Erza inquired, almost sadly.

So caught up in the breathless intensity which had swept through him, Jellal had completely lost the thread of the conversation. Even as a cat, her eyes were so earnest. She was certainly the Erza he knew, right down to that flicker of power hidden deep within her, which had manifested as the charismatic willpower to lead the uprising against their captors and the overwhelming magical strength which had almost made that uprising successful.

To think that Erza was so kind, and yet her magic had come from such buried hatred. He admired it. How could he not? If she had not turned from that path, if she too had come to know Zeref in that room, they could have accomplished great things together. No – in a way, they still would. He couldn't do this without her, after all.

Would the R-System still work if his sacrifice was a cat? If he had had doubts about that before, then he held them no longer. Whatever had happened to her, that incredible potential was still locked within Erza. And even better, in this form, she couldn't fight back. Zeref was as good as resurrected.

"Oh, I believe you, Erza," Jellal grinned. He could no longer hold back his mirth. Maniacal laughter filled the room, edging towards insanity. He stood up and felt the satisfaction of seeing Erza shrink away from him. Shadows leapt as the light from the crystal trembled. "Have you come here to stop me? Now, after all this time, you've finally found the courage to come and face me? You're too late, Erza! You're too weak to stand against me, just like you were back then! You can't stop me!"

The floor beneath them shook as the magic power he was emitting intensified sharply. Dust fell from the ceiling. The air around them crackled and hummed; this was the power of the one Zeref had chosen. There was nothing in the world that could stop him now.

Nothing – except for Erza's quiet words. "I haven't come here to stop you, Jellal. I need your help."

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Oh man, I love Jellal so much. Almost as much as I love Laxus. Sometimes more. Depends on my mood, really. I'm not going to lie; he is going to take over this arc quite a bit. There's a lot of fun stuff to come._

 _Oh, and that reminds me. I changed quite a few minor details from canon in this arc that kind of unexpectedly propagated through to become major differences, so if something I mention openly contradicts canon, just go with it. From minor things (the protocol and mechanism for launching Etherion being totally different, for example) to big ones (like the reason why Jellal is able to fool the Council with his Thought Projection, which as it turns out has surprisingly far-reaching implications...) to certain characters just not existing (looking at you, weird assassin guys...) - the plot won't really work unless you just run with it, so please, trust me on this one! As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the arc once it really gets going! ~CS_


	19. The Sound of Darkness Hatching

_**A/N:** Chapter Nineteen. In which, despite my best intentions to start explaining what the hell is going on, I probably just make things worse... ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Nineteen: The Sound of Darkness Hatching**

To her surprise, Lucy found she was actually quite good at driving a boat.

Controlling the vehicles they hired wasn't usually her job, but this time she hadn't been given a choice. Natsu was lying with his head over the side trying not to throw up, while Happy kept an eye on him, alternating between making snarky comments and checking that he genuinely wasn't dying. Gray would normally have been in charge of powering the boat, but he was sat as far forward as he could possibly be, his intense eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of the Tower of Heaven – as if he thought sitting right at the front would get him there just that little bit faster. So severe was Gray's demeanour that Lucy didn't dare ask him if he would take over, even though supplying the magic power to move the little boat and steering it in what she hoped was the right direction at the same time was a tiring task.

By the time the Tower of Heaven had come into view on the horizon, Lucy had completely mastered the art of moving small magic-fuelled fishing boats. It probably helped that the sea around the Tower was deathly calm. Though the chill ocean breeze continued to tear at her hair, not a single wave broke the mirror-like surface. No ripples marked the trace of their boat's passing.

Yet it was not a peaceful scene. Everywhere she looked, she saw remnants of destruction: splintered masts; broken oars; torn sails bearing the symbol of the Magic Council; even whole skeletal ships, long-abandoned, sitting vertically in the water so that their bows could point up towards the sky in a crude imitation of the Tower itself. There was death amidst the wreckage. The corpses of sea monsters she had no name for floated alongside the decomposing bodies of ordinary fish, with no tide here to sweep them away. And above it all rose the Tower, that black finger gesturing mockingly towards Heaven from amidst a field of decay.

Even though there were no waves here to fight against, Lucy slowed the boat to a snail's pace as they approached, navigating carefully between the shipwrecks and the dead creatures. She expected Gray to turn round at any moment and urge her to hurry, but it seemed that this dread place could subdue even his tense anxiety.

They approached slowly; silently. The Tower had guards, stationed on the rocky outcrop of land upon which it had been constructed. Perhaps the sight of enemies should have worried them, but Lucy was not alone in finding the presence of other living beings a gladdening one in this place of death.

The guards wore masks of cloth over their faces to keep demons at bay. Many of them held onto the leashes of ferocious dogs as they patrolled the walkways of the Tower and the paths through the rocks. Fortunately, their aim seemed not to be keeping intruders out, but keeping the servants of the Tower in. None of them paid much attention to the ocean, preferring to turn their gazes anywhere else – to the ground, to the sky, to the Tower itself. After travelling through that dead sea, Lucy could hardly blame them.

She docked the boat round the side of the island, beneath a convenient outcropping of rock. The guards wouldn't find it easily, though they clearly weren't expecting an attack, going by how the four of them had seemingly made it to the island without being noticed at all. Gray disembarked immediately, followed by Lucy and then Happy, dragging Natsu, who had yet to recover from his motion sickness.

Since no one else was doing it, Lucy took charge. "Right, we need to find a way in. There are guards everywhere, but look – the Tower is built on a network of caves. There's bound to be some way of sneaking in. If we look underwater-"

"There's no time!" Gray interrupted irritably. Without warning, he dashed out of their hiding place and began running towards the front doors of the Tower. Lucy's startled cry was only the first of many as the guards finally spotted him.

"That idiot," she muttered, peering around the rock to watch as the guards converged on him in a rush. Was he trying to be a distraction? Surely he couldn't take on that many at once-

"Ice Make: Lance!" Streaks of light flashed out from Gray's palm. The weapons of ice he created found their way unerringly towards each of his opponents. Most of them went down without a fight; a second volley of missiles finished off the rest. If the magic power rolling off him in waves was any indication, he wasn't holding back. This, Lucy realized, was his determination to protect Erza. Had he always been like this, or did he know something they didn't?

Lucy and Happy ran after him, followed by a staggering Natsu. They caught up just in time to watch him blast the doors down and step through into the empty foyer. The inside of the Tower was still and quiet; serene, almost. Waiting. It was just like the sea of decay that ringed the small island like a moat, except with one difference: they had reached the Tower unnoticed, and now every one of them felt the unmistakeable pressure of being watched – watched by something ancient and terrible, and vast beyond their comprehension.

"Which way?" Lucy asked. She had lowered her voice to a whisper, and even that resonated thunderously in the empty hall.

"We'll split up." Gray indicated the stairs. "Lucy and I will go down. Natsu and Happy, go up. We're grabbing Erza and getting the hell out of this place, understood?"

Lucy nodded. Even Natsu didn't object to being ordered around. Gray's urgency had got to all of them – as had the hostility of the Tower. Not wanting to be there for a moment longer than they had to be, they ran to find Erza.

* * *

Gray and Lucy had only descended through two floors before the careful architecture of the Tower gave way to natural tunnels. The Tower of Heaven itself was jagged and chaotic, yet clearly deliberate. Every spike or decoration or convolution or fracture was carefully chosen; a perfect, man-made fractal. By contrast, the tunnels and caves, which had been carved out by the sea centuries before mankind had settled there, were smooth. Their bends were the results of regularities in the rock bed and the steady, predictable action of erosion and deposition. They could be understood, unlike the Tower itself, which made sense only to the twisted mind which had first conceived of its design.

Though the tunnels were clearly inhabited – they were well-lit by torches, and there were deep ruts on the floor where carts had been dragged back and forth – they were used for storage, and nothing more. Gray scowled, bringing his crazy charge to a halt. "Damn it. Should've gone up. I thought they might have dungeons down here, and if she'd been caught… but there's nothing here. Damn."

"Hold on," Lucy interjected nervously. "Gray, we don't actually know if Erza is here or not-"

"She's definitely here. I can feel it. Let's go-"

He tried to dash back up the stairs, only to find Lucy blocking his way with her arms folded. "Gray, what's going on with Erza? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?"

"Lucy, get out of the way! We don't have time for this!"

She recognized that look in his eyes – stubborn, but bordering on hateful. She had seen it on Galuna Island; she had seen it more recently, when she had asked him to teach her Ice Make on the beach down by the guildhall. She held her ground. "What aren't you telling us?"

Perhaps Gray was also thinking about that time on the beach, and what had happened afterwards, because he backed down. "It was when Erza was coordinating our battle against Laxus. The fight took a turn for the worse, and then all of a sudden she tried to jump from the roof."

"But… she could fly, right?"

"No. She didn't work out how to materialize Happy's wings until later."

"Then…"

"She would have fallen, and she would have died." Short, impatient words, as if he was explaining it to a child.

Still Lucy tried to protest. "Erza… she would never…"

"I know. The Erza we know would never do anything like that. But the Erza that I saw in that moment wasn't her. One moment she was Erza Scarlet, and in the next, she was someone I didn't know at all. She was going to jump. No reason, no meaning; she didn't think twice about it, or about the fact that Levy and I were right there. And then, a minute later, she was back again. As if none of it had ever happened. There is something wrong with her, Lucy – something which maybe runs deeper than just a bit of loneliness and pride and jealousy without her magic!" He slammed his fist against the wall in frustration. "It's my fault. I should never have let her out of my sight."

"Then, you think that she came here to…" She couldn't finish the sentence. It was just too horrible.

"A dangerous S-Class Quest, way beyond her present capabilities? I don't know why she came here, Lucy, but I'm not stopping until I know that she's safe."

Lucy hung her head. She wanted to cry. "I'm sorry, Gray. I didn't know-"

He didn't get the chance to respond, for at that moment they became aware of other voices, echoing through the tunnels.

"And then that meanie Simon swept in with his Darkness Magic and snatched the kitty cat away from me-"

Two figures rounded the corner and froze. Lucy and Gray were equally paralyzed. Neither side knew what to make of each other; they sized each other up warily.

"Who are you?" demanded the girl with cat ears. Her companion, a man with an unusually square face and a similarly geometric body which could have been made up of building blocks, gave them an odd stare.

For a wild moment, Gray considered pretending to be workers in the Tower, but he discarded that thought almost immediately. As he was right now, he would much rather fight than bluff his way through the situation. His pride as a Fairy Tail mage, and as Erza's friend, wouldn't allow him otherwise. "Where's Erza?" he snapped.

The blocky man turned to Millianna. "They're looking for Erza. Does that mean that that cat Sho caught really was-?"

Unhappy with being ignored, Gray leapt forwards. "I said, where's Erza?" he yelled, kicking the man in the stomach.

"Wally!" the girl shouted in alarm. She began to run over to him, but he raised a hand to stall her, standing up by himself and brushing himself down.

"So, you're a guild mage, are you, boy? Don't even think you can stop Jellal's plan. We'll take you out here and now!"

There wasn't even a trace of humour in Gray's voice. "Fine by me. I'll beat you, and then I'll force you to tell me where Erza is."

* * *

Once he had caught Erza's scent, there was no force on earth that could stop Natsu. He followed her trail upwards, barely sparing a glance for his surroundings as he tore through lavishly-decorated halls and ran past rooms full of guards too startled by his sudden appearance to stop him. The sense of _wrongness_ that permeated this Tower, which no amount of extravagant furnishings could mask, heightened his worry about Erza being alone somewhere in here and lent flight to his feet.

He ran up every set of stairs he came across. When there were no more stairs in this illogical place, he passed through an archway and found himself, without even realizing it, on an external walkway, sloping gently upwards as it spiralled around the upper floors of the Tower. Inside or outside, on firm ground or with fatal drops to either side, it made no difference to Natsu. He kept running towards Erza.

Unaccustomed to both his body and to running in general, Happy quickly fell behind. Natsu was so focussed on finding Erza that he didn't notice; this was also one of the rare occasions where Happy didn't say anything, only kept silently willing Natsu to run faster. Gray's anxiety had got to all of them.

So it was alone that Natsu reached the chamber of shadows at the very top of the Tower of Heaven. He knew that was where Erza would be found even before he kicked the door down and burst in. He knew it because this was the place from which it seemed that all the darkness and all the fear in the world must surely emanate.

Sure enough, Erza was there. Writhing bonds of darkness pinned her body up against the large crystal in the centre of the room. They wrapped around her slender wrists and ankles like living snakes, an ugly black against her pale skin. Her head was slumped forwards, her chin on her chest, her face hidden by a curtain of scarlet hair. At the sound of the door smashing, she raised her head, and murmured, softly, wondrously, "Natsu…?"

There was a man in that room with her. Tall, and cloaked in dark blue, he stood in front of Erza's helpless form. One hand was raised towards her; in front of his palm, a white magic seal was forming. He turned sharply towards the intruder. The sudden movement caused his hood to fall back, revealing his bright blue hair and the distinctive crimson tattoo down the right side of his face. His eyes were wide with shock.

If Natsu had taken a moment to consider the scene, he would have recognized that man from the Magic Council; he might have hesitated at that crucial time.

And if he had hesitated, he would have noticed all the inconsistencies before his eyes.

But once Natsu had seen Erza in trouble, everything else was irrelevant. He had learnt all he needed to know in the split-second after bursting through the door, and his body was alight with flames before his foot had even touched the floor of the room. "Get away from her!" he screamed, and he flung himself at Jellal with the fury of a dragon.

* * *

"Ice Make: Lance!"

Gray attacked without hesitation. Caught off-guard, his opponents scattered. Millianna dived to the side, avoiding the missiles with an agile roll. Wally was less graceful, prioritizing avoiding damage to looking elegant, but he still managed to get out of the way just in time.

Wally picked himself up from the ground, brushing himself down. He looked almost insulted by the sudden attack. "Striking before your opponents are ready? That's not a dandy thing to do."

"What do I care?" Gray snapped. "Give Erza back!"

"That's no way to ask for help, boy," Wally tutted disappointedly. The blocks making up his right arm glowed and began to rearrange themselves into the form of a rifle. As Gray sent another spray of ice lances towards him and Millianna, Wally fired a volley of cubes in response, detonating the lances in mid-flight. He seized the advantage, shooting another round of exploding blocks before his opponent could create more ice. Gray was forced to abandon his ranged attack and summon a shield to protect him and Lucy.

However, he had failed to keep track of his other opponent. While the smoke and fire raging against the far side of the ice shield obscured his view, Millianna had dashed straight round the side of it. "Cat Binding Tube!" she declared triumphantly. A thin orange tube appeared in her hand. Aided by her magic, she wielded it as confidently as Lucy would use her whip; the tip flicked out and in an instant Gray was bound, his arms pinned to his sides.

"I don't have _time_ for this!" Gray snarled. "Ice Make-" But he broke off abruptly. Not only could he not bring his hands together to activate the two-handed Make Magic he preferred, but he could summon forth no magic power at all. Even as he watched, the ice shield crumbled to nothing. That ridiculous-looking tube was suppressing his magic power. "Lucy! A little help here!"

"On it!" Lucy replied, having already found the key she wanted. "Gate of the Lion, I open thee! Loke!"

With a blaze of celestial light, Loke appeared in between them. Now that he had reclaimed his place as a Celestial Spirit, the casual, trendy attire he had worn around the guild had been replaced by a flashy black suit and a red tie. Wally gave a nod of approval. Loke's orange hair had become much wilder, befitting his true nature as the Lion of the Zodiac. Despite having been summoned into the middle of a battlefield, he was as cool and composed as ever.

"Hey there, Lucy," he greeted casually. "Hey, Gray." At the sight of his friend tightly bound by that tube, with an attractive young lady holding onto the free end, his eyebrows rose. "You look like you're having fun."

"Shut up and help us out here," Gray growled back.

"Sure thing," grinned Loke.

It was Millianna who made the first move, however. She was staring at Loke suspiciously. "Leo… Lion… the king of the big cats…"

"Hmm?"

Then Millianna couldn't control herself any longer. She flung herself at Loke, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly. "Kitty!"

"Umm…" Lucy blinked. Gray just stared at her. Wally clapped a hand to his forehead in exasperation.

"Whoa, whoa," Loke protested, with a bemused laugh. "I'm all for girls throwing themselves at me, but there's a time and a place…"

Lucy placed her hands on her hips. "Loke! Stop messing around and do something!"

"Like what?" He raised his arms in a helpless shrug while Millianna grappled him happily.

"She's an enemy! Attack her!"

"…Umm, I can't, really. It would be a bit rude…"

While the others were too bewildered by the turn of events to act, Wally took it in his stride. He was far too used to the girl's crazy obsession. "Good job, Millianna!" He sprung forward, carefully aiming his gun towards the immobilized Loke and shooting.

However, the one advantage of Loke acting as a distraction was that the tube binding Gray had gone slack when Millianna had lost all interest in him. Now he leapt into the path of the block-bullet, smashing it aside with an enormous ice hammer. He didn't stop there either – with one opponent having seemingly forgotten all about the battle, he could focus solely on Wally. Hammer in hand, he ran towards him without mercy.

His strange opponent was by no means backed into a corner. Before Gray could get close, Wally's left arm and leg glowed and converted themselves into floating blocks, which flew towards Gray in a rush. Grimacing, he was forced to halt his charge and focus on dodging. There were too many of them for his eyes to follow; one caught him a glancing blow on his left shoulder and another struck his knee from behind, sending him sprawling forwards onto his hands and knees.

Seeing his friend's plight, Loke made up his mind. "Sorry," he told Millianna, sincerely, before he seized her and wrestled her to the floor. "I may be the Lion Spirit of the Zodiac, but first and foremost I am a member of Fairy Tail, and I will fight for my guild!"

To his surprise, rather than giving up the fight, Millianna narrowed her eyes. "Cats pretending to be people. People pretending to be cats. I'll never forgive you!" With a powerful kick, she threw Loke off her. Quick as a flash she was back on her feet, leaping after him and punching him into the cavern wall. Loke staggered to his feet, winded.

In the melee, forgetting about anyone was a crucial error. Wally levelled his rifle towards the prone Gray as the blocks reassembled themselves into the left hand side of his body. "This is the end, boy," he declared, shooting him with a block infused with sleep magic – which went wide as Lucy's whip curled around the barrel of the gun, tugging it to the side.

"Loke!" she commanded. "Go!"

They were close friends; she trusted him implicitly, more so than she would have trusted any of her other Celestial Spirits. She believed he would be able to overcome Millianna and rush to their aid, and he didn't disappoint her. Loke leapt past her, holy light gathering around his fist.

"Not so fast!" yelled the disgruntled cat-girl. "Cat Binding Tube!"

But as the tube snaked towards Loke, Gray pushed himself up from the floor, determination blazing in his eyes. "Ice Make: Sword!" The blade appeared in his hands, as solid as steel. In the same motion he carved a great arc through the air, which sliced Millianna's weapon in two before it could reach Loke.

The Lion Spirit roared, "Regulus Impact!" The light around his hand grew so bright, it was painful to look at – the light of the proudest star in the heavens.

And then: "STOP!"

A silhouette of a man appeared between Loke and Wally, his arms spread wide in a gesture of surrender. Surprised, Loke obeyed; the blazing light of his magic dimmed. Gray wouldn't have hesitated, but Loke hadn't been there to understand his worry about Erza. He fell back a step or two, ready to attack again if it was just a deception.

Yet the newcomer didn't seize the chance to strike. On the contrary, he remained in that vulnerable pose, as if to convey to them as quickly as possible his sincerity. His words had been for Millianna and Wally too; though both moved to stand beside him, keeping their attention fixed on their opponents, they didn't attack again.

"What's this about, Simon?" Millianna accused.

Satisfied that the battle was over, the big man let his arms fall to his sides. He didn't answer her directly. Instead, he turned to the intruders, who examined him cautiously. He was an intimidating man: taller than any of them, and wearing nothing on his top half but a strip of cloth from shoulder to hip to show off his muscled chest. Beneath, loose-fitting trousers were designed to enable manoeuvrability in combat. An eyepatch and an armoured metal jaw completed his fearsome image. From appearances alone, he was the opponent they would have least liked to face, but his peaceful actions seemed in earnest.

"You three are friends of Erza's, aren't you?" Simon asked.

"That's right," Gray answered. "And if you've done anything to her-"

"Erza is in danger, but not from us. I'll explain everything - about Erza's past, and the Tower of Heaven."

"Simon, they're enemies-" Millianna began.

"No, they're not. Jellal is our enemy. He always has been." When his two friends looked at him in confusion, he only sighed. "You two need to hear this as well, as does Sho, if we can find him. I'll tell you the truth about what Jellal has been planning all this time."

* * *

Natsu barrelled into Jellal, knocking him straight off his feet. The flames enveloping the two of them instantly obliterated the magic Jellal had been about to turn upon the helpless Erza. They hit the ground with enough force to dent the stone, Natsu on top, his face a mask of utter fury.

The two of them had met once before, when Natsu had stormed into a convention of the Magic Council to 'rescue' Erza from a trial of mere formality. If Natsu recognized Jellal from that time then he gave no sign; he would have stopped for nothing in that moment. At that same meeting, Jellal had taken a keen interest in Natsu's activities – however, even he could have been forgiven for not associating his assailant with the carefree Dragon Slayer from back then. The blissful ignorance and good-humoured nature Natsu had displayed during that encounter had been twisted into hatred; his enormous magic power had come alive with that rage. Only one thing remained the same: that blind determination to protect Erza, no matter what.

That instant it had taken for Jellal to realize he was under attack was all that Natsu needed for another strike; before Jellal could even begin to counterattack, a Fire Dragon's Iron Fist made contact with his chin. The blow would have incapacitated a normal man. Under ordinary circumstances, Natsu would have been confident that that would have put an end to it, but in that instant, he knew something was wrong. Perhaps, through that brief contact, he had sensed the vast magic power surging within the other's body, shielding him against the damage. Perhaps he noticed the flash in the other's eyes as Jellal acknowledged that if he didn't fight back with everything he had, he was going to die. Whatever the reason, Natsu's battle instincts screamed a warning.

But even knowing the danger, he didn't back down in the slightest. He wasn't going to let this man get anywhere near Erza.

As Natsu drew back to punch him again, Jellal moved with the speed of a striking snake. He flung his opponent off him, springing effortlessly to his feet and kicking Natsu away before he could react. Rather than jumping in to continue the hand-to-hand fight, however, he backed away to a safe distance.

Jellal brought his hands together. From the floor uncoiled shapes of darkness – formless wraiths oozing up from the shadows, seeking the warmth of flesh. Glimmering red runes, unintelligible to man, gave their liquid bodies form. They reached hungrily towards Natsu, attempting to bind him before he could race over and attack again.

Yet it was without a trace of fear that Natsu ran towards the living darkness. His determination lent him overwhelming strength. There was only the slightest hint of resistance as he ploughed straight through the hideous apparitions; in fact, some detached part of his mind registered amazement at how readily they dissolved at his touch. And once he registered the momentary alarm on his opponent's face, Natsu had no intention of letting Jellal to recover from his failed spell. "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" he yelled, and as the flames of his anger burst once more into life around him, he charged forwards and head-butted his enemy back into the wall.

There was the dreadful sound of something breaking – not Jellal, but the wall behind him. Cracks emerged from the point of impact, expanding rapidly like a complex web of destruction, with him trapped helpless like a fly at its centre.

Disoriented from the impact, Jellal seemed to struggle to raise his head to meet Natsu's gaze. "Natsu… isn't it?" he murmured. "You must-"

" _What did you do to Erza?_ " the other screamed. When no answer was forthcoming, he immediately followed it up with, "Roar of the Fire Dragon!"

His opponent was helpless to avoid it. Jellal could only endure the searing pain as the flames washed over him. Under the barrage of dragon's fire, the damaged wall could hold on no longer. The plaster fell away, revealing the dull blue glimmer of the dormant lacrima beneath it. Jellal let himself fall with it, and he landed in a controlled crouch at his opponent's feet.

Natsu had yet to encounter a mage who had been able to take so many of his Dragon Slayer attacks head-on and survive. Thinking his opponent's stillness was a sign of his victory, he moved forward to check, fire flickering around his fist as he readied another strike.

Natsu, however, had never fought a Wizard Saint before. Jellal's eyes hardened. Natsu knew that look; his enemy had reached an understanding within himself, and now he was going to fight for real. As Natsu's blazing fist crashed down towards him, just a fraction too slow, Jellal reached up, almost lazily, and caught that fist in his hand.

There was a moment of stillness, as if Natsu's momentum had been snatched away from him. His dragon's fire did not burn Jellal. How could it, when there was enough power surging through the other's fist to completely drown it out? The next moment, an enormous beam of white energy engulfed Natsu. He was thrown back against the wall in an impact that sent shudders running through the entire Tower.

For a moment, Natsu felt nothing but the burning pain of the raw energy in front of him and the jagged wall behind. It was only when the light died away that he realized he was still conscious, and somehow managed to regain his bearings an instant before he landed on the floor. The amount of energy he had felt in that spell terrified him, but the fact that he was still standing meant that it hadn't been enough to put him out of the fight, and that meant that accepting defeat was out of the question. Fear was nothing to his ferocious willpower. Staggering to his feet, blinking furiously until the world stopped swimming and settled down, he tried to locate his opponent.

Jellal had already moved. The pain of his physical injuries flared up, but it was nothing compared to what he had been through, and easily suppressed. There was distance between them now; he intended to use it. He raised his hand, shooting forth a short burst of light. Natsu jumped aside at the last minute and it struck the floor instead, vaporizing a chunk of stone and lacrima. A further three blasts sent him hopping wildly around the room in an attempt to dodge them. It might have been funny to watch, but both sides were now fighting to the death; there was no place for mercy, let alone for mirth.

Seizing the long-range advantage, Jellal expanded his spell. He swept his arm in a semi-circle above his head, leaving behind an arc of glowing globes of heavenly magic. With a flick of his hand, all the missiles streaked towards Natsu at once.

They swept towards the Dragon Slayer from all sides, giving him no room to dodge. His gaze slipped sideways to Erza. The bonds holding her had vanished; she had slumped to the floor and now lay there unmoving. Seeing the strong friend he had always admired looking so weak and helpless brought on a whole new wave of hatred towards Jellal for leaving her in such a state.

As if he would give up. Natsu snarled, "Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!" Flames gathered around his arms. Leaping towards the missiles, he slashed them apart, the fire of his rage overcoming the other's power.

Jellal also glanced towards Erza. There was something in that gaze that Natsu couldn't even begin to comprehend. "Then, I'll end this now," he murmured, more to himself than to Natsu. He unclipped his deep blue cloak and cast it aside. The air around him began to shimmer, as if in a heat haze; Natsu saw the immense release of magic power for what it was and checked his rush towards the other, his eyes widening.

The Tower groaned under the weight of that magic; the air itself hissed and jumped with displeasure. Jellal spread his arms wide as seven great golden seals appeared in the air above him. Calmly; efficiently; without, so it seemed, any emotion at all – not anger, not glee, not regret – Jellal released the spell he had so easily summoned. He wasn't about to miss his target with magic like that. The incredible rush of power tore into Natsu; stunned him and drove him mercilessly to the floor. Not even a Dragon Slayer famed for his endurance was about to get back up from that. It was over.

Satisfied, Jellal turned his attention back towards Erza. Natsu could do nothing but watch helplessly from the ground as he stepped forwards, letting the magic build up in the air around him once again - slower, this time, because the repeated use of such powerful spells carried a high price even for one as strong as him, but he still had enough left for this. Erza didn't move. She might not even have been conscious to notice the danger.

Closing his eyes, Jellal commanded, "Altairis!" He crossed his arms above his head. Immediately darkness gathered between his hands – not the darkness of shadows and deceit, but the true black of the night; that which had walked hand in hand with the light since the beginning of time. It was neither good nor evil, that dark, but more fundamental than either. The space between the stars enveloped all the hopes and dreams of life within its vastness. Even as the Tower trembled at the magnitude of the magic being called, pinpricks of light appeared in the sphere of perfect blackness Jellal held in his hands.

He whispered, "I'm sorry, Erza. I truly am."

And Natsu heard his words, and his fist slammed into the ground. How _dare_ he? How dare that man, who had bound Erza, and hurt her, and broken her spirit, speak with such solemn sorrow in his voice? How dare he act as if he was _sorry_ while he was preparing to murder her? From nowhere, a great surge of strength came to him.

Jellal hurled the spell towards Erza – or he would have done if Natsu hadn't chosen that moment to leap onto his back, throwing his aim off. The sphere of night missed Erza by inches and instead tore an enormous hole in the wall of the Tower.

"Natsu!" Jellal half-yelled, half-cursed. But Natsu wasn't done. The feral Dragon Slayer tore into him ferociously, biting with dragon-like fangs, drawing blood with claw-like fingers, pummelling every inch of his body that he could reach in desperation. It was with no small effort that Jellal was able to throw him off – and Natsu noticed his exhaustion, and couldn't stop a savage grin. Casting that spell had drained a lot of energy from his opponent, and he clung to that thought like a lifeline as he hit the ground and somehow managed not to black out.

There was raw anger in Jellal's voice now. "You don't understand anything!" he yelled.

Natsu got to his feet once again. "I won't let you touch Erza!"

"She has to die, before it's too late-!"

"SHUT UP!" Natsu bellowed. Incensed, he threw himself at his opponent once more.

Jellal just shook his head. "Meteor!" he snapped. A golden magic seal appeared on the ground beneath him, filling his body with its light.

The next thing Natsu knew, Jellal had crossed to the other side of the room. His motion was a blaze of golden light, streaking from one place to another almost faster than the eye could see. Natsu had no hope of keeping up - not when just turning his head quickly enough to watch the other move sent waves of dizziness rolling through him in his injured state.

Jellal looped round, unhindered by gravity, and drove his fist into Natsu as he passed. This time, it took Natsu much longer to get back to his feet. Still, though, he stood; still, he looked at Jellal in anger, and then to Erza's motionless form. He took one step forward.

Jellal shot by him again, striking him over and over again. At that speed, a passing blow could become lethal – but Natsu had the constitution of a dragon, and the willpower to match it; though he stumbled, he took another step forwards, and then another, and another. He walked towards Erza. He would protect her, no matter what.

"You- can't- save- Erza!" Jellal screamed at him, punctuating every word with a blow to Natsu's defenceless body.

"Shut up!" the other yelled back, once again. There was nothing else he wanted to say to that man. Drawing some magic power up from somewhere, he managed to unleash a Fire Dragon's Roar, but it was more a gesture of defiance than an actual attack; Jellal spiralled around it with ease. This time as he passed, his hand closed around Natsu's neck, dragging the boy along with him before throwing him to the floor. Still, the concept of accepting defeat against a superior opponent did not exist to Natsu. Battered, bruised, and unable to lay a finger on his opponent while his Meteor magic blazed, still he got to his feet.

"Stop getting in the way!" Jellal yelled.

" _I will not!_ "

Finally losing patience with Natsu's stubbornness, as he arced round again, Jellal summoned an enormous golden seal in front of his palms. A beam of raw energy struck Natsu from behind, sending him sprawling face-first to the ground beside Erza.

Darkness swam in the Dragon Slayer's vision. He sensed more than saw Jellal slowing to a stop; letting his spell disappear; thrusting his arms into the air once again to call down that fatal magic against Erza. And he felt a rush of fear at his own weakness. His body was refusing to obey his commands. And if he couldn't move, he couldn't do anything to protect Erza…

Erza stirred, almost as if she sensed the danger to herself. One slender hand reached for Natsu's. "Natsu…" she whispered, as if in wonder. "You came for me…"

"Yeah. Of course I did."

"I knew it," she said, with a small smile. "I knew this would make everything work out..."

How could he even think about giving up, when she was depending on him? With a final effort, he forced himself to his feet, ignoring the protests from his broken body. Natsu placed himself between Jellal and Erza. Spreading his arms wide, he faced down his enemy without fear. "Come on, then!" he howled. "Do it!"

He saw Jellal hesitate, and didn't understand why. That ball of heavenly magic clutched in his hands, powerful enough to erase any one of them from existence in an instant, trembled, yet he did not let it go. Shaking his head, Jellal said, "I don't want to kill you, Natsu. Get out of the way."

Natsu only gave a grim smile. His resolute expression spoke volumes. He knew Jellal didn't have the strength left to use that spell more than once, and he was more than willing to give his life for Erza's.

" _Natsu!_ " As if he could convey everything that he knew, everything that he had seen, to the other, in that one word. As if it would make the slightest bit of difference, even if he did. Natsu would protect his friend no matter what.

Jellal stared at Natsu. Natsu stared back. Almost perfect strangers.

Natsu was fully expecting to die in that instant, and no one was more surprised than he when he didn't. The magic Jellal was radiating vanished into nothing. The orb of darkness in his hands imploded without a sound. He fell to his knees. He was shaking; his widened eyes stared at nothing.

Natsu paid him no heed. With the battle over, the only thing he cared about was Erza. He shouted her name, reaching out for her, as if to check that she was real. "Erza! Erza!"

"Natsu." She whispered back to him, her voice like a shout in the silence of the aftermath. She took his hand in her own. "You saved me… thank you."

"Of course I did." Not even his utter exhaustion could prevent a broad grin from spreading across his face. "I beat that evil guy, whoever he was, and rescued you, and totally showed up ice freak, who's probably still lost somewhere in the basement right now..."

He had been trying to make her smile; to break the tension of the battle's aftermath. It didn't work. She simply stared at him earnestly, imploring, "We can go back to the guild now, can't we?"

"Yeah," he assured her. "Of course. We can go home, Erza."

"And... everything's going to be okay, isn't it?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Natsu frowned, puzzled by her worry. The Erza he knew should never be this vulnerable. He didn't know how to respond to seeing her so defenceless; so uncertain; so in need of reassurance. The chamber at the top of the Tower seemed suddenly filled with unease.

Into that moment, Jellal found the strength to shout, "Natsu! Get away from her!"

"Shut up," Natsu growled, not even turning round. "Who is that guy, anyway?" he asked of Erza. "And what are you doing here?"

She glanced away. Perhaps it was out of shame, or perhaps it was guilt. "When I was young, I was a slave here in the Tower of Heaven, along with Jellal. Eight years ago, we tried to escape, but we were caught and Jellal was captured and tortured as punishment. I staged a rebellion with the other slaves and overthrew the people imprisoning us, but by the time we reached Jellal, his mind had already been corrupted by the evil in the heart of the Tower. We were supposed to escape together. Instead, he stayed, seizing control of the Tower and the cult that inhabited it for his own purposes. He told me if I ever returned to the Tower, he would murder my old friends, who he had deceived into serving him. That's when I came to Fairy Tail… and Jellal continued to build the Tower in my absence.

"But I knew his true goal. He intended to use the Tower of Heaven – the R-System – to resurrect Zeref. I had to come back to stop him, before it was too late, but it was a trap. Jellal lured me here to use me as a sacrifice to resurrect Zeref. If you hadn't come along when you did, he would have succeeded. Natsu… you saved not only me, but the entire world."

"Heh. Naturally." Looking rather pleased with himself, Natsu grinned. Then he turned away from Erza; began walking slowly back towards Jellal. "And this is the bastard who betrayed you and tried to sacrifice you."

"He is truly evil," Erza told him, with great sadness in her voice. "We must put an end to him now, before he gets the chance to sacrifice anyone else to his dark plan."

"Is that so?" Natsu's fist slammed into his left palm, burning with the relentless flames of the fire dragon. He still had enough power left for this. And if it was what Erza needed...

"We have no choice. He is beyond redemption now. End it, Natsu. Please."

And he almost did. Only, there was something about those words that made him feel uncomfortable. Was killing this man really the sort of thing that would help Erza? Now that the adrenaline of the battle was dying down, it was becoming more and more difficult to ignore that nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right with this scene.

Natsu looked down at the kneeling Jellal, and found himself hesitating. The two of them locked eyes. Jellal did not plead – there was despair in that gaze, but it was not despair towards his own fate. He could have avoided it, after all. He could have killed Natsu earlier, and none of this would have happened. He had chosen not to.

Was that really the choice of a man beyond redemption? Since when had Erza accepted the fate of a friend without doing everything in her power to prevent it?

And, while he was asking questions…

Without turning round, Natsu said, neutrally, "Erza, how did you undo Changeling?"

"It just… happened, you know? I was trying to escape from Jellal, flying about the Tower, using Happy's magic to try and get away – and then I was me again. I guess we just switched back. I never found out exactly how it works."

"I see."

"But it's over now, Natsu! We've won! You can end this, and then everything will go back to normal! I've got my magic back – we can go back to the guild and start working on our recovery – everything is going to be okay!" Puzzlement entered Erza's tone, as if she couldn't comprehend his lack of joy. "Why aren't you happy, Natsu? Things are going to be okay! You promised!"

Now Natsu turned around, slowly and steadily. "Everything will be alright, Erza. But, there's just one thing I don't quite understand."

"Natsu...?"

"If you've switched back from Changeling, why hasn't Happy?"

And from out of the shadows there stepped another Erza. This one was wearing a swimsuit, as had become customary over the past few days. In one hand, she – or rather, _he_ – held a sword; in the other, a fresh fish.

It was with a dreadful whisper that Happy asked, beseechingly, "Erza...?"

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Aagh I had so many issues with this chapter. I already redid the entire of Natsu vs Jellal from scratch twice, and it still sucks. If I had the time I would probably just scrap this entire chapter and start over, but of course the week with probably the worst-written chapter in the whole story has to coincide with the week where I'm just buried under a mountain of university work (it started with my probe getting frozen stuck inside some liquid helium and just went downhill from there...). Plus NaNoWriMo starts today and I have literally no idea how I'm going to keep up with updating this over the next few weeks while also writing and not dying from lack of sleep. Ehh. Next chapter should be more fun, though. Well, more fun for me. And it might even contain some answers. ~CS_


	20. From the Ashes of Eternity

_**A/N:** Chapter Twenty. Sorry I didn't get to reply to all the comments last chapter - it really has been a horrendously busy week. Hopefully this chapter should explain most of what's going on. I did mention the whole exponential deviation from canon with length thing at the start, didn't I? Now I come to think of it, I may have forgotten... ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty: From the Ashes of Eternity**

The Fairy Tail Archives, being entirely underground, had more or less escaped the destruction of the guildhall. Apart from having to fight one's way through the foundations of the new guildhall being constructed on top of it in order to reach the entrance, a few books on the floor and an overturned bench were the only signs down here that anything out of the ordinary had happened to the guild. This treasure-trove of learning and history, of ancient magic and secrets thought lost to mankind, had survived mostly unscathed.

Descending those stairs for the first time, and seeing a side of the guild that no one but its members even knew existed, Gajeel felt yet another twinge of conscience at the damage he had done to the guild. If someone had told him back then that he was going to regret attacking Fairy Tail, let alone that he was actually going to end up joining them, he would have laughed in their face – but then again, it had been a tumultuous few days. The triumphant end of the Battle of Fairy Tail seemed to have been taken as an excuse to wipe the slate clean for everyone, not just for their new Master. They were already acting as if Gajeel had always been one of them. It was only at times like these – when he was forced to confront the damage he had single-handedly done to his new guild – that he remembered he had technically been a mage of Fairy Tail for less than a day, and that even if they seemed to have forgiven him, he still had a lot to make up to them.

Under normal circumstances, the great room Gajeel found himself in would have been brightly lit by lacrima, but the lights had been borrowed to provide stable illumination for the guild's basement and storage rooms, which were getting far more use than the Archives in these troubled times. Today, only a single candle flame spluttered atop one lone table, where two people sat surrounded by piles of dusty tomes. The only sound was the non-stop scratching of a pen on paper, like spiders scuttling across the page. Spiders would have been much more at home in this dark, ancient place than Gajeel was.

He made his way slowly across the old wooden floor, wincing at the deafening crash of every footstep. Neither of the figures seemed to notice – certainly, neither looked around as he approached.

Levy was turning through the pages of a book half as big as she was. Her lips formed silent words, speaking only to herself, while she noted things down on a spare piece of paper with her other hand. Sat opposite her and one seat along was Freed. He appeared to be asleep, face-first on the table with an open book for his pillow. His chest rose and fell peacefully; he didn't even stir at the sound of Gajeel's clomping footsteps. Then again, neither did Levy. Even when Gajeel stopped next to their table, she didn't seem to notice his existence.

After a moment of standing there in awkwardness, he coughed. When that didn't work, he plucked up his courage and tapped her on the shoulder.

That worked like a charm. Levy jumped a mile, spinning round with combat reflexes as Gajeel hastily backed away. In contrast to the accusation he was expecting, however, her eyes lit up when she saw him. "Oh, hey, Gajeel," she greeted, with a distracted smile.

"Hey," he echoed, uncertainly.

"What are you doing here? Is it morning already?"

"…It's the middle of the afternoon. Have you been here since the party?"

"Sure have." She gave him another tired grin, but elation sparkled in her eyes. "We're almost there, though!"

"Almost there with what?"

"Changeling, of course." A thought occurred to her, and she turned her attention to her sleeping companion. "Hey, Freed, do you know – oh, you found it already." Levy grasped the book he was using as a pillow and pulled it free with a quick tug. Freed's forehead bashed against the table; he mumbled something unintelligible but didn't wake up.

Levy scanned through the open page of the old tome. Upon finding the passage she wanted, she began reading it aloud to herself and scribbling down words once again. Gajeel didn't have a clue what she was saying. Just as when she had first hacked into Freed's Jutsu Shiki, he felt no small admiration for this girl and the power she held that he couldn't even begin to fathom.

However, she also appeared to have completely forgotten about his existence again. Just as he had made up his mind to tap her on the shoulder once more, she gave a sudden shout of exultation and held up the page she had been writing on. At the bottom was a single sentence, written out in neat black letters and circled repeatedly. "Got it! Yes! Ha! Freed, what do you think?"

When no response was forthcoming, she frowned at her companion, as if noticing for the first time that he had fallen asleep. "Hey, Freed," she repeated, almost crossly. That didn't get a response either, so she jabbed him repeatedly in the shoulder. Gajeel raised his eyebrows; it seemed a night of working together towards the same goal had banished the initial awkwardness between the two letter mages.

With great reluctance, Freed raised his head from the table and blinked at her blearily. Levy gave him no explanation, simply shoving the piece of paper so close to his face that he had to lean back to read it. He scanned the page once, narrowed his eyes against the fog of sleep, and read it again.

Then all of a sudden he jumped to his feet, all traces of exhaustion gone in an instant. "Levy, this is it! You did it!"

"Couldn't have done it without you," she grinned back. "I just finished off the translation. It all makes sense now."

"So what?" Gajeel growled, causing the two of them to look at him in surprise. Realizing that he might have come across as harsher than he intended, he tried to clarify, "You've translated this Changeling spell, right? So what does that mean now?"

"It means that Changeling can be undone!" Levy told him elatedly. "It won't be easy, but it's certainly possible. We've got to tell Erza right away! Is she in the guild?"

"Last I heard, Salamander and the others were chasing her to a place called the Tower of Heaven-"

Levy looked at Freed. "We've got to go after her!" He nodded once, snatched up his sword, and followed her up the stairs at a run.

An instant later, their footsteps had faded to nothing, and Gajeel was left alone in the dusty silence, not entirely sure what had just happened. As if to sum up his bemusement, the candle on the table breathed its last and winked out, plunging him into darkness. "Right then…" he muttered, not to anyone in particular.

Then there came the sound of a door creaking. A widening crack of light appeared at the top of the stairs, only to quickly dim again as someone stuck their head through the gap. "Hey, Gajeel!" Levy shouted down at him. "What are you waiting for? Come on!"

"What? Me?"

"Yes, you! Hurry up! We're going to the Tower of Heaven, right now!"

"Can't a man get a moment's peace around this guild?" Gajeel muttered, but Levy's head had vanished again. Heaving a sigh, he ran after her.

* * *

"This is the last straw, Makarov Dreyar."

Org made the announcement with a voice like thunder. With the Chairman absent again, control of the Council meeting had fallen to him once more. It was not a good sign for Fairy Tail.

Though, Mira reflected despondently, it made little difference to her predicament. Org's mood was representative of the feelings of the entire Magic Council – the one time in history that the assembled mages had all stood in agreement was, inevitably, the one time they stood against Fairy Tail. Looking up at those nine stern faces, Mira couldn't help shivering. It would take a minor miracle to save her guild.

"Your audacity astounds me." There was an undertone of awe in the councillor's voice. It was not a compliment. "How you could think this was appropriate conduct for a disgraced guild is beyond me. We graciously permitted Fairy Tail to remain operational after your illegal undertaking of the guild war, and this is how you repay our generosity? Not only have we yet to receive a single jewel from you in payment of the fine that is due today, but now _this_ … Unrestrained magical battles in an urban area. The demolition of half of Magnolia. The evacuation of an entire city, while you destroyed their homes – it's a miracle no one was hurt! This is a crime not just against the civilians whose livelihoods you have ruined, but against the whole magical community; against the reputation of the Magic Council! After the guild war, against my better judgement, the Council agreed to allow you to remain a legal guild – who can doubt now that I was right all along? Fairy Tail is a menace to us all."

There were murmurings of assent from the rest of the Council. Mira sought signs of sympathy in the faces ranged up against her, and found none. Most of them looked to Org in solidarity. He held the power when the Chairman was absent, after all. Yajima, Fairy Tail's old ally, watched Mira with a new hostility. Given their conversation after the first trial, she knew he suspected something was going on. Her rash decision to impersonate Makarov back during their first encounter had cost her guild the one chance they may have had of any assistance from the Council.

There was always Siegrain, of course. He had been Fairy Tail's most vocal supporter during the first trial. But he put his political backing behind whichever side amused him the most, and today's trial seemed of little interest to him. Whereas before he had been outspoken and confident, he had yet to say a word this afternoon, as if he was preoccupied with something more important. Mira doubted she would receive any help from him today, though given her instinctual distrust for that arrogant man, his lack of participation may well have been a blessing in disguise.

Ultear was as bored by the proceedings as ever. The only thing seemingly capable of catching her attention was Siegrain. Only Mira could see it, from her position – the frequent glances the young woman cast towards the blue-haired man; the way her ears pricked up whenever his name was spoken, even more so than with her own. She couldn't help wondering if she was privy to whatever was occupying Siegrain's mind that afternoon.

Mira knew very little about Ultear, other than the fact that she had been nominated to the Council at around the same time as Siegrain, and that she seemed to follow his decisions in all things. _And that she feigns disinterest in everything, yet pays more attention than anyone_ , Mira thought suddenly. If anything, it was her inability to figure out Ultear's game that comprised the bulk of her wariness towards the woman.

Amongst the other councillors, Mira was certain that she would find no aid. Michello, Org's friend and yet another vocal opponent of Fairy Tail, tapped his papers on the desk in front of him. "Damage reports are still coming in from all over Magnolia. Entire blocks of townhouses have been razed to the ground. There are craters of destruction in the centre of the business district. There are even eyewitness reports of some sort of mega death ray-"

 _Fresnel lens_ , Mira corrected silently, but her inward smile didn't quite make it onto her face.

"-being unleashed upon the city. This goes far beyond the usual damage caused by your guild – damage which we have always swept under the carpet in favour of the results your guild produces, and your willingness to shoulder the costs of the repairs. But this is one step too far, Makarov. Even you can't undo the damage you've done to the city, or to us. Already the people are turning their anger towards the Council, blaming us for allowing you to carry on for as long as you have. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Mira fidgeted under the weight of nine stern gazes. "It… was an accident," she muttered. "We were preparing for the Fantasia Parade, and the festivities got a little out of control-"

Org slammed his hand down on the desk. Mira jumped like a startled rabbit. "The only thing out of control here is your guild, Makarov! Half of Magnolia saw that the enemy Fairy Tail was fighting was none other than your own maverick grandson!"

"Laxus was, uh-" Mira tried, but they weren't having any of it.

"You can't even keep your own family in line, let alone your guild! Your conduct in this matter has been unforgiveable. We have warned you before about that boy and his inability to control either his temper or his destructive magic. We told you to keep him under control, and look at what happened! That boy has caused the magical community nothing but trouble. Even his father now runs a Dark Guild-"

"A man is not responsible for the sins of his father," interrupted Siegrain mildly. So he had been listening, after all. "Raven Tail are Fairy Tail's enemy just as much as they are ours."

With a nod towards him, an elderly woman added, "But a Master _is_ responsible for the actions of his guild." She turned her firm stare towards Mira. "Are we to assume that Laxus Dreyar has been suitably punished for his actions, under the laws of your guild?"

Mira hesitated. "Well, about that-"

"Belno, are you trying to imply that Fairy Tail should be left to deal with this matter internally?" Org seemed surprised, and not pleasantly so.

She shook her head severely. "The greater crime of the scale of the damage to Magnolia remains to be accounted for. However, dealing with members who have gone astray should remain, indeed, the duty of the Guild Master. That has always been the nature of the relationship between the guilds and the Council."

"I disagree," rumbled Michello. "This particular Master has already proven himself incapable of dealing with rogue members. It would be irresponsible of us to overlook Laxus's actions in this instance – they merely give us another reason as to why Fairy Tail must be disbanded. Not forgetting, of course, the illegal guild war and the obliteration of Phantom Lord."

"That matter has been dealt with," Yajima intervened. "Bringing it up again here is childish."

"Except it _hasn't_ been dealt with. Fairy Tail were given a fine and seven days within which to pay it. That deadline passed yesterday while they were out destroying the city, and I don't see Makarov presenting us here with any of the money he owes us, do you?"

Beads of sweat appeared on Mira's forehead. "We'll have that to you by, umm, the end of the day?"

But Org just shook his head. "This time, it will not be enough. No amount of money will suffice to restore the bond of trust which must exist between guild and Council."

There were murmurs of agreement at this. Emboldened by the fact that all his colleagues seemed to be on his side this time around, he continued, "We have given Fairy Tail enough chances. Time and time again they have betrayed the trust we put in them. Their wanton destruction, their lack of respect for other people's property, the failure of their Guild Master to maintain any sort of control over his wild members – these actions have not only harmed the image of all mage guilds, but they have dragged the name of the Magic Council through the mud for standing with them all these years. This can go on no longer.

"No, don't interrupt me, Yajima – nor you, Siegrain. I know what you are both going to say." Org gave a deep sigh. "Yes, we have had reason to thank Fairy Tail in the past. As you pointed out last time, without Fairy Tail's timely intervention on Galuna Island or in the Lullaby incident, to name but a couple of instances, the whole world might have been in danger. It is for these reasons that you persuaded the Council and myself to spare their guild in the aftermath of the war with Phantom Lord. However, don't the events of yesterday show that our generosity has been thrown back in our faces?

"Even if we allow Fairy Tail to begin with a blank slate after the guild war – which would certainly be no trivial decision – the actions of the guild yesterday alone are grounds for dissolution. We have given them numerous chances in the past; now, at long last, we must accept that Fairy Tail will never learn their lesson. We cannot permit a guild which does not respect the law to continue operating. That is our duty as the Magic Council."

There was silence. Yajima would have spoken up, but the mood in the room was obvious – as the only voice of opposition, he would have been quickly swept aside, and with a significant loss of credibility along the way. Siegrain, who would certainly not have cared about the loss of respect, folded his arms and said nothing. Perhaps the whole affair had ceased to amuse him. Perhaps he no longer had a use for Fairy Tail.

"Therefore, it is the final decision of the Magic Council that Fairy Tail will be-"

At that fateful moment a door swung open and a man burst in. "We have an emergency!"

The timing was so fortuitous that for a moment Mira was convinced that the stranger was Natsu, dressed up in clumsy home-made Rune Knight attire, just like he had once interrupted a hearing disguised as Erza in a ludicrous attempt to 'save' her. When he didn't run around the room yelling and breathing fire, however, but bowed respectfully to the members present, she was forced to take a closer look. This man was a genuine Rune Knight. He wore his immaculate white cloak with the symbol of the Magic Council on with pride; there was a dignified bearing about him that Natsu lacked, and he stood tall, like a trained soldier.

Furious at having the wind snatched from his sails, Org rounded on the intruder. "How dare you-?"

Siegrain cut across him icily. "I doubt he would have interrupted without good reason. What is it, Lahar?"

The Knight inclined his head gratefully. He and Siegrain had been colleagues once upon a time. Shortly after he joined the Rune Knights, he had been assigned to the new councillor's task force with the mission to eradicate a particularly dangerous form of dark magic known as the R-System. Under Siegrain's leadership, their force had managed to quickly and efficiently discover and destroy all seven towers across the continent which could potentially have been used to activate the R-System. The resounding success of the mission had been responsible for Lahar's rapid rise through the ranks of the Rune Knights – and had earned Siegrain a lot of reluctant respect from the colleagues who had been hoping he would fail, not to mention his title of Wizard Saint. No, they weren't friends – Siegrain made no pretence of the fact that he counted no one on the Council's side as amongst his friends – but Lahar had a great deal more respect than most for the younger man.

Lahar was breathing hard, as if he had run to the Council chamber. He cast a sideways glance at Mira, as if to check that it was alright to proceed with a stranger in the room; it seemed that she was the only one who noticed this. The councillors themselves all appeared too surprised at the interruption to start thinking of its consequences. It was a sign of how flustered Lahar was – and how urgent his news – that he didn't make the comment out loud, but went ahead with his message.

"You need to see this," he said. There was a lacrima in his hand, which, at a brief command from his magic, began to float in the air in front of them. A screen appeared in the air between Mira and the seated councillors as the lacrima projected an image onto nothingness.

There was a pause. "What are we looking at?" someone asked.

"The Tower of Heaven," Siegrain answered coolly. His hands were in his pockets; his eyes glinted in the artificial light from the projection. The events in the Council room certainly held his full attention now.

"We know this," Org stated with impatience. "Just a few days ago we issued a request to the mage guilds to investigate it on our behalf."

Lahar explained, "What you see is the result of that investigation."

The councillors focussed on the image of the Tower of Heaven with renewed intensity. Were it not for the occasional jolt of motion, as whoever was transmitting the magical image shifted, it could have been a painting. No waves brushed the surface of the sea which stretched out in all directions; the Tower itself, that warped black finger protruding from the ominous sea and pointing towards the grey clouds above, showed no signs of life. Animals, having far better sense than human beings, avoided that place. Only the far-distant clouds moved in that scene, slowly swirling, as if to converge at the top of the Tower itself.

"A Blue Pegasus team of three mages and their mentor took the job," continued Lahar. "One of them possesses that rare magic called Archive. The image you see now is being transmitted to the lacrima via his magic – in other words, this is a live feed from outside the Tower of Heaven."

"We can see nothing from here," was Org's irritated response. "Can't they get closer?"

Lahar shook his head. "They dare not. The Tower's defences are too strong. The Blue Pegasus team entered the Tower yesterday, and were lucky to escape with their lives. These were some of the strongest mages from that guild, driven to the point of exhaustion by the fanatical cultists and their leader. They have only just recovered enough to report in and begin sending this footage."

"My dear brother does not tolerate intruders," Siegrain chuckled, with a small smile. "As I discovered, when I went to try and talk him out of this madness myself."

A dark murmur rippled around the room. While it was no secret that the leader of the dark cult inhabiting the Tower of Heaven was Siegrain's younger brother, the reminder that Jellal's power likely rivalled that of his twin was not a pleasant one. None of them would have liked Siegrain, one of the youngest Wizard Saints in history, to have been their enemy.

"Before they were defeated, it seems that the Blue Pegasus mages managed to learn one valuable piece of information." Here Lahar paused for effect, but upon noticing the impatience of his audience, he moved right along. "The Tower of Heaven goes by another name: the R-System."

"The R-System!" Org exclaimed. "That's impossible! All seven towers were destroyed months ago!"

"It turns out there was an eighth. Our initial investigation must have missed it. No, the R-System is very much alive, and even worse – it is almost complete."

"How could this have happened?" Org demanded. "How could we have missed one?" The full force of his furious gaze turned towards Siegrain. "Did you know about this?"

But the young councillor's face was a perfect picture of innocence as he shook his head. "I knew Jellal and his cult were dealing in forbidden magic, but nothing on the scale of the R-System. Even if he is my brother, I would never have tolerated it if I had known…" His fist clenched. His voice was laced with disappointment – disappointment at his brother, and at himself, for not realizing sooner. "We cannot let the R-System activate."

"We must act at once," Org agreed. "We could send in the army-"

"The army?" This was Ultear, speaking for the first time in the meeting. Her voice, young and strong, stood out amongst the angry tones of the elder councillors; moreover, it was laced with the scornful derision they had come to expect from her infrequent contributions. "And spend hours, if not days, negotiating transport for so many men into enemy territory when the R-System might be activated at any moment?"

"Not to mention, we don't know what we might find in the Tower," Michello cautioned. "It seems Jellal was prepared for uninvited guests; who knows how long the Tower could hold out for against a naval force?" He cast a wary glance at Siegrain. It was clear he too was thinking about the young man's strength.

Lahar offered his opinion. "The Tower would definitely fall, but it might not be quickly enough. If there was one thing the Blue Pegasus mages were insistent upon, it was that the R-System is ready to be activated at any moment – this warning coming from people who do not even know what the R-System is, let alone the dangers it poses to the entire world."

"Then, we have no choice," Siegrain spoke up; quiet, regretful. "I propose that the Council considers using Etherion to eliminate the R-System before it is too late."

In the wake of his announcement, there was only sombre silence.

A silence broken by one person; the one they had all forgotten about. Sheer disbelief gave her the courage to speak out.

Mira demanded of the astonished Council, "You _are_ joking… right?"

* * *

It was just too easy.

That was what Jellal had thought. There had been no need for his plans to kidnap the formidable mage that Erza had become. He hadn't even had to fight her himself, or break her spirit, or create magic powerful enough to bind her. Eight years of planning, eight years of sacrifice, eight years of living in the darkness – and the moment he had dreamt of, which had kept him going through all that suffering, had just dropped straight into his lap.

All this time, and _she_ had come to _him_.

It was just too easy.

She had come to him for help, on the very day that the R-System had been completed. She had told him everything about the Changeling curse that had bound her to the body of a cat; she had begged him to lend her his aid. Despite everything he had done to her in the past, she hadn't questioned him, not once. Even now, she stood with her eyes closed against that giant crystal, unafraid of the shackles of darkness about her little furry wrists and ankles; completely at his mercy. She had not doubted him for a second.

Could the R-System do what she asked? There was every possibility that it could. It was, after all, designed to bring the Black Mage Zeref back from the dead and build him a new, living body from pure magic. It would surely only take a fraction of that power to re-create Erza's old body. There wouldn't even be a need for Etherion, let alone any sacrifices.

It was an intriguing possibility, but he would never know whether or not it could be done, because he had no intention of using the R-System for anything other than resurrecting his god. He had told Erza otherwise only so that she would willingly become the last piece of his puzzle, because she was such a naïve fool-

 _Because she still believes in me_.

That traitorous thought cut through him like a blade of ice. It was true, though, wasn't it? He had betrayed her. He had ruined her life. He had taken her friends from her, and her freedom; cursed her to spend her days living in the shadow of guilt and memory. She knew this. Even so, when she had had no one else to turn to, she had come to him. In doing so, without a word she had forgiven him for everything he had done to her. If he helped her now, as he had told her he would, he knew with certainty that it would be to her as if none of the past eight years had ever happened.

But it changed nothing. He loved her, yes, but his hatred was stronger, just as it had been when he had first heard Zeref's voice in that room of torment. Erza would succumb to it, his dark god would be reborn, and then there would be true freedom in his world of ruinous magic. Once he started the process she would be helpless to stop it, and it would just be a case of waiting for the Council to unleash Etherion – a trivial matter, thanks to the timely arrival of those guild mages yesterday. Nothing could possibly go wrong. It was just too easy.

And that was the problem. It was _too easy_. After eight years spent working towards this moment, to have it all come about of its own accord like this was simply disappointing. His great scheme, his meticulous planning, his single-minded dedication – hadn't he earned one final cataclysmic battle to seal his greatest triumph? To have his enemy fall without a fight was the worst thing that could have happened. It trivialized everything he had done; it made his greatest victory a hollow one.

He had expected to fight Erza. He had wanted to. He desired to see that look on her face as he broke her spirit; to feel her horror as she understood the weight of his betrayal; to hear her screams as she finally gave herself up to the darkness he worshipped.

He owed her that much. So great was his love for her that his hatred must be even greater; that terrible desire had guided him for the past eight years. He had to defeat the glorious knight Titania, whose birth he had shaped. He had to see Erza, his detested, beloved Erza, one last time. This wasn't right. This meek cat, who had put herself willingly at his mercy, desperate enough to seek help from the one who had betrayed her, wasn't Erza Scarlet. This wasn't what he wanted.

Long he had dreamed of this moment, and now, at the dawn of his victory, there was only emptiness in his heart. What had it all been for, if not for this?

And then, like a bolt out of the blue: _I can't do this_.

He stumbled backwards under the weight of that realization. Yet even as he fought it, with every ounce of hatred, every ounce of dark power, every second spent in service of Zeref's memory, he knew it to be true. _I can't kill Erza_. _Not like this_.

If she had charged in here to stop him, blade in hand, he could have fought her, crushed her, and sacrificed her without a second thought. If she arrived with words as her weapons to save him from the darkness, begging for him to abandon his plan and come home with her, he would have betrayed her, and he would have loved every passionate minute of it. But she had come in here seeking his help, and he couldn't lay a finger on her. He just couldn't do it. This path would not bring him happiness.

 _I can't do it_. And then: _I won't do it_. He turned his gaze towards the life in the shadows as the spell of the past eight years broke. _I will not sacrifice Erza. I will not activate the R-System. I will put an end to this here and now!_

In that moment of emptiness, someone laughed.

Startled, Jellal wheeled around, but Erza had not stirred. Nothing moved in that chamber of darkness at the top of the Tower of Heaven. But the laughter continued, and as dread rose up and crushed that single bud of hope between its fingers, he realized that the laughter was in his head.

There was a voice as well, hissing its words into his mind. He knew that voice as well as he knew his own. The worst part was that it wasn't angry, but amused. Every word sent shivers down his spine. _You are weak, Jellal. To have come this far and fall because you cannot kill one girl is pathetic. You are a failure._

"I cannot kill Erza," he replied steadily. "I know that now."

Before him Erza twitched, slowly opening her eyes. "Jellal…?" she murmured in her confusion.

 _Then leave her, and find someone else._ Again, it wasn't an order, but a mere comment, patronizing and sarcastic. That tone should have worried him, but his resolve was growing with every moment that passed.

He gazed at Erza in the silence. For the first time in eight years, there was a warm feeling inside him, and no hatred to drown it out. He wondered if she had come here to save him, after all.

"I will not. I am done with this."

 _You will never find true freedom._ Mocking, now.

"No, but I have the freedom to choose my path right here and now, and I choose Erza."

 _And you are willing to let the past eight years go to waste?_

"Eight years is nothing, for I am taking back the rest of my life. I have the future. _You_ are the one who will have nothing."

For a moment the voice didn't reply, as if Jellal's determination had caught it off-guard. Then that cruel laughter returned in full force. _Oh Jellal, you are such a fool. I no longer have any need of you._

"What… do you mean?"

 _Your hatred is strong, Jellal,_ mused that awful voice. _It gave you great power. But your heart is weak, as it has always been. No, your role is over, as you wish for it to be. I have not needed you since the moment she walked in through that door._

"…Erza?" A panicked note entered Jellal's voice.

 _Such hatred she carries! Such resentment for the rest of the world; such anger towards her own weak self! Such wonderful fragility! Such twisted self-doubt! Such hunger for freedom – and for power! Oh, there is darkness in the heart of Fairy Tail's Titania!_

"Erza will never accept you!"

 _But she already has. Can't you see it in her eyes?_

Against his will, Jellal found himself looking – and that dreadful voice was right. He could see the shadow which had hung over him for half of his life staring back at him: the swirling purple darkness; the flash of blood-red runes which were never meant to be understood by man. And it was not just a reflection in her eyes, but a liquid blanket enveloping her, as runes curled like living things across her little feline body. The swarming darkness hid her from view momentarily, and then it expanded, warping into an awfully familiar form. When it receded, it was Erza's old body bound to the crystal, terrible in its beauty.

Jellal's heart lurched. His eyes were open wide in horror, seeing clearly for perhaps the first time in eight years. "Erza…" he whispered, and his hands curled into fists.

 _It was her choice, Jellal. Just as it was once yours… isn't it ironic how these things turn out?_

"You can't do this. The R-System will not activate." But even as he spoke, he understood the danger of the situation. Erza as she was now was perfectly capable of using the R-System he had completed. Even if he ran, it was only a matter of time before mages sent by the Council reached the Tower. A suitable sacrifice to complete the process would be easy to find.

Though that wasn't the only thing the R-System needed, and he clutched at his new hope ferociously. "Etherion shall not fire! I will stand against it, and without it you will never obtain the amount of power you need to active the R-System!"

There was silence, and he thought he had won. Once again, however, his hopes were dashed to the ground by that laughter. This time, it rang with genuine mirth. _Oh Jellal, did you really think that Siegrain was_ your _Thought Projection? Did you never stop to question why you of all people could channel so much magic power remotely, when it is all but impossible even for the greatest mages of this age? Do you really think you could have maintained a Thought Projection over such a distance and for so long, and so convincingly, without my help? Using your magic power and your appearance, Siegrain was merely an extension of my will. I do not need your cooperation in order to borrow your image for just a little longer, nor to make the Magic Council do my bidding._

Again, the voice was right. The borrowed dark magic he had relied upon for years was slipping further and further beyond his reach. His connection to the Council stretched taut and snapped abruptly. The awareness of a place other than the Tower faded from his senses.

For the first time in as long as he could recall, he felt lost. Everything had been taken from him in the space of minutes; he had lost not only his goal, but Erza, his redemption, as well. There was no path set out for him through the darkness. If he wanted to escape, he would have to do it himself, one step at a time.

He looked into Erza's eyes and found no trace there of the girl he had loved. And he knew exactly what he had to do.

 _Do you see?_ continued that triumphant voice. _You can't stop it! This world will end at Erza's hands and there is nothing you can do-_

A burst of white light tore from Jellal's raised palm and speared Erza through the heart.

Her dark eyes widened in shock. Her lips moved in a silent curse. Black shadows dripped like blood from the open wound, trying to repair the damage, forcing life to keep pumping through those veins. It wasn't her real body, but a living construct of dark magic; that was the only reason why she hadn't died instantly. Already the wound was healing itself. The darkness poured its unhallowed magic into her; one last desperate attempt to keep its host alive. It wouldn't be enough. Not against him.

"I'm sorry, Erza," Jellal spoke quietly. "But I can't let you make the same mistake I did. I will not let the darkness take you."

He raised his hand once more, drawing on his power to put an end to this once and for all-

-and then the door burst open and Natsu was yelling something and the next thing he knew, he was fighting for his life.

* * *

"Fire Etherion?" Mira echoed, her voice ringing out with incredulity. "Are you out of your mind?"

Nine pairs of eyes snapped across to her, angry at the interruption. Org warned her, "This does not concern you, Makarov."

"It absolutely does concern me!" she retorted. "Using Etherion would affect every mage – no, every human being in Fiore! How can you even contemplate doing such a thing?"

Like all mages, she knew the name 'Etherion' – knew it and feared it. It was the Magic Council's weapon of mass destruction. There were no other words to describe it. Ever since its creation a few years ago, mages of Fiore had been supplying magic power to the huge lacrima which powered it; the energy stored within it by now likely amounted to more than that possessed by all the mages on the continent combined. At the order of the Magic Council, the Satellite Square, guiding magic cast into the heavens, could be activated to rain that stored power down upon the earth. It wasn't just Fiore that could be targeted by it, but the entire world. There was no known magic capable of stopping Etherion, and no living creature could survive a blast of that magnitude.

That the Magic Council had such a destructive weapon at their fingertips might have been terrifying to the citizens of Fiore, but it wasn't, because it was never supposed to be used. It was a deterrent. Its presence was reassuring. Obviously the Magic Council would never activate something that would cause the indiscriminate slaughter of human beings. As Mira had said, you would have to be out of your mind to actually use such a weapon.

"Control of Etherion rests with the Magic Council, not with the Guild Masters, Makarov," Org said darkly. "And it does so for a reason. Leave. We will see you once we have dealt with this crisis."

Mira folded her arms and planted her feet firmly on the ground. "Yeah, I don't think so. I think I speak for every mage in Fiore when I say that I will not just walk out of here and let you plan a massacre! You can't fire Etherion just like that! How can you even consider it?"

"We _aren't_ considering it!" Yajima shouted, banging his fist down on the desk. "The weight of the lives that would be lost is inconceivable! No one here would seriously support such a decision!"

"We do not have enough information to make that choice." Belno backed him up solemnly. "Etherion is not a weapon to be used just on a whim."

"We know the R-System can be activated at any moment," Siegrain countered. His brow was furrowed in thought. No longer was he taking this half-heartedly, Mira realized. "We cannot let that happen. It's a gamble, but one we must take. We don't need unanimous consent to fire Etherion – only a majority vote."

"How can you be so calm about this, Siegrain?" Yajima exploded. "It is your own brother's life at stake here!"

The young man closed his eyes sadly. "It is precisely because he is my brother that I understand the threat he poses to our world. Jellal has chosen his path, and it has led him to darkness. I will not let family ties prevent me from doing my duty as part of the Magic Council."

"I agree with Siegrain," Ultear spoke up, not at all unexpectedly. "Jellal must be stopped, whatever the cost."

"Jellal is not the only one who will die if you hit the Tower of Heaven with Etherion!" Mira yelled. The furious glares she received for reminding them she was still in the room were not enough to stop her. The older members of her guild would have recognized that fiery, rebellious resolve from a time when Mira's battles had still been fought with magic, not words. "What about the other people that could be in the Tower? Cultists, mercenaries, builders, even slaves – would you kill them too? Etherion doesn't discriminate; you'll destroy the Tower, sure, along with _everyone in it!_ Countless numbers of innocent lives, erased without warning! This isn't salvation! This is _murder!_ "

"This is _execution_ ," Siegrain corrected her. "Those who have aided Jellal in constructing the R-System deserve their fate."

"And what about those who are there against their will?" Mira shot back.

Ultear spoke up smoothly. "All human lives are precious. However, if the R-System activates, all life in our world will be in danger, not just those lives within the Tower."

"They are necessary sacrifices," Siegrain agreed, easily picking up the thread of his colleague's argument. There was an appreciative glitter in Ultear's eyes, reflecting the ghostly blue light of the screen. "A terrible tragedy, but their lives are on my brother's hands, not on ours. We must strike pre-emptively for the safety of the realm."

Two votes for. Another three would seal the fate of everyone in the Tower. Mira was relieved to see many of the remaining Council members shaking their heads and muttering at this new development. For her part, she could not comprehend firing Etherion. She knew that it was none of her business; that the Council had every lawful right to use the weapon if they deemed it necessary. Yet at the same time she believed everything she had said earlier. If Etherion was used to eliminate the entire Tower, possibly including slaves or civilians along with the villain; if that dreaded power was actually unleashed at the will of these nine people, without any attempt to find an alternative solution – society would never be the same again. And that made it everyone's business, including hers.

And someone had to speak up for those whose lives hung in the balance. People would die if Etherion was fired. It was as simple as that. She may not have the power to change things, or the ability to fight for her friends, or even the political skill to keep her guild out of trouble, like Makarov would have done – but she could not stand by while the Council plotted murder. No matter what the consequences would be of this so-called R-System, it could not be worse than the intentional and indiscriminate massacre of everyone in the Tower. She was resolved to do what she could.

The debate between members of the Council was brought to a sudden halt as Yajima got to his feet. Though the old man was no taller than his friend Makarov, he commanded a similar level of respect, especially when he was stood on the desk. "Stop!" he ordered, and the arguing voices died down.

"Lahar," he began, turning to the Rune Knight who still waited at the chamber's entrance for instructions. "You said that these images of the Tower of Heaven were being sent to us live from a mage who is there, correct?"

"That's right."

Yajima pointed to the top of the Tower. "Then what's that?"

Mira stared with everyone else. The old man was right; there was something going on at the top of the Tower. Lights were flickering at the windows, bright enough to be seen even in the daytime. From within the building, there came flashes of dazzling white, alternating with blazes of orange and crimson. Even as they watched, not knowing what to make of this new development, the Tower seemed to shake, and a large black crack appeared at the very top, tearing its way downwards for a good few metres before stopping. A burst of flames emerged from the crack, projecting out into the sky for a moment or two before vanishing.

A numbness seemed to spread through Mira's body. _It doesn't mean anything_ , she told herself fiercely. _Lots of people can use fire magic._ But how many of those people had the same penchant for trouble as a certain Fire Dragon Slayer she knew? She couldn't explain away the feeling of alarm that suddenly gripped her.

Not everyone recognized the light display so easily, of course – not having the benefit of belonging in a guild, it had been quite some time since most members of the Council had participated in any magical battles. "What's that?" Org demanded. A note of panic entered his stern voice. "Is the R-System activating?"

He glanced towards Siegrain. There was a flash of anger in the young man's eyes, but it was quickly suppressed. "How would I know?" he asked, with a neutral shrug.

"I don't believe it is," Yajima interjected. "It looks to me like mages are fighting at the top of the Tower."

"Who? Jellal? Guild mages? Did another of the legal guilds accept our job?"

"Not officially," Lahar answered. "But it's possible that someone has learned of Jellal's plan and gone to the Tower to stop him. Wait – what's that?"

The explosions at the top of the Tower were continuing, but that wasn't the only part of the image that had come alive. There were six figures running along one of the spiralling walkways near the top of the Tower. Against the backdrop of gathering clouds, their black silhouettes stood out clearly. Mira scanned them anxiously, hoping against hope that she wouldn't recognize them – but she already knew in her heart what she was going to find.

"Servants of Jellal?" Org suggested.

"No," Mira found herself saying. "They're Fairy Tail mages." As the others in the room turned their attention to her once more with a mixture of disbelief and horror, she continued, with a heavy heart, "Well, the first four figures aren't familiar to me, but the last two are almost certainly Gray Fullbuster and Lucy Heartfilia. And I'd wager anything that one of those fighting in the Tower is Natsu Dragneel."

That last name was well-known to the Council. To them, he embodied all the headaches that Fairy Tail had given them over the years. To Mira, however – well, there was no one she would rather entrust with the future of the world. She believed in Natsu; in Lucy and Gray and whoever else might be there from her beloved guild. Now she had a personal reason to fight, and her resolve would not be broken.

She seized the confusion that had fallen over the Council members to put forward her case. "There are members of Fairy Tail in the Tower, most likely in response to the Council's own request. Turning Etherion on the Tower now, in full awareness that they will be caught up in the blast, is an act of war – not just against Fairy Tail, but against all the legal guilds."

She spread her arms wide. "But it doesn't need to come to that! Look, Fairy Tail's strongest team are in the Tower of Heaven right now! They will stop Jellal and the R-System with everything they have. At the very least, they will buy you enough time to send an armed force to the Tower, to properly assess the situation and make a balanced judgement on this matter!"

"Even Natsu Dragneel is not capable of stopping Jellal," came Siegrain's cool response. "And how can we even be sure that Fairy Tail will take our side in this? Given the trouble that that guild has caused us in the past-"

Anger flashed in Mira's eyes. That was a remnant of the old Demon Mirajane; as Makarov, she looked fearsome indeed. "Yes, Fairy Tail has caused trouble! We know that! But when have we ever let you down when it counted? We prevented the Lullaby incident from becoming a nationwide disaster – we stopped the revival of the demon Deliora – we ended the Phantom Lord war before it could get out of hand! We will not permit any dark magic to roam unchecked, and we will not allow any harm to come to the world, for we are a mage guild, proud to serve at the behest of the Council!

"So, please! We will show you that side of our guild, right here and right now! Just this once, please, believe in Fairy Tail!"

The buzzing of the projection lacrima was the only sound in that room. Everyone stared at her, dumbfounded; far more taken aback than they had been when she had previously laid into the Council for fining Fairy Tail. Mira's heart was hammering. Had she gone too far again? Was that what Makarov would have done in her place? She should be fighting for her guild with everything she had, right?

As the silence dragged on, she became more and more nervous. Siegrain and Ultear exchanged glances, the only movement in the chamber. The latter appeared bemused by this development, the former angry – but as he opened his mouth to give his opinion, Yajima got there first.

Mira didn't like the severe expression on the old man's face. She should have been reassured by his presence as her ally, but there was no friendship in his eyes now. Even before he began to speak, she felt as if the ground had dropped away from beneath her feet.

"Under ordinary circumstances, I would be the first to advocate putting our faith in Fairy Tail," said the old man. "But even I find that difficult at this moment in time."

"We-" Mira tried, but before she could get the words out, Yajima gave a sharp shake of his head.

"If you want us to believe in Fairy Tail," he said quietly, and with dreadful finality, "Then why don't you start by telling us what happened to the real Makarov Dreyar?"

* * *

 _ **A/N:** So of the two storylines running parallel during this arc - one in the Tower, one in the Council - the latter is by far my favourite. It was much easier to write, and I think it flows a lot more smoothly. Possibly because it actually bears some resemblance to its canon equivalent. Besides, the whole scenario gets really quite interesting when you introduce limited communication between the Tower and the Council as well, which should help as both storylines come together later on. As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter (or at least didn't hate it quite so much...)_ _~CS_


	21. Silent Tears of Pain We Cry

_**A/N:** Chapter Twenty-One. About time for some more Laxus, I think. ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-One: Silent Tears of Pain We Cry**

After several chaotic days, things at the guildhall were finally beginning to settle down. This was their second attempt at a recovery, and this time, Fairy Tail were determined to get it right. They took things at a more relaxed pace than they had done last time. People took the jobs they felt able to do, no more and no fewer than before the crisis; they helped out on the building site when they got the chance; they took breaks frequently, and the usual lively banter between the guild members never fully died away, no matter how busy things became.

Thanks to the previous day's battle, there were no shortage of repair jobs around Magnolia. The downside, of course, was that no one was willing to pay the people who had caused the damage to help fix it. Only the handful of locations covered by insurance provided any sort of reluctant fee to the mages for helping out – and more often than not, Fairy Tail had to cover the cost of the repair materials and the equipment hire themselves, on top of doing the work for free. However, they always returned to the guild after a job well done with new insights, expertise, and even contacts within the construction sector, which they quickly put to work on the new guildhall during their time off.

True to his word, Laxus had been working without a break since early that morning. He was helping out with the building work rather than taking on jobs. Even though his magic power was recovering exceptionally quickly, as usual, and he was more than capable of going out on S-Class Quests again, it was probably better that he remained where he could easily be contacted while they were waiting to hear back from the Magic Council – especially with so many of the guild's strong members currently tied up in the Tower of Heaven incident.

Besides, he seemed to be constantly in demand. The guild members had been a little wary of him at first. However, once Gray and Natsu had approached him for permission – more or less – to go to the Tower of Heaven, the others had started to overcome their reservations and check with him before they went out on jobs. It would normally have been Mira's role to supervise who was doing what, but she was at the Magic Council, meaning that the responsibility lay entirely with their Guild Master.

It annoyed Laxus no end. As if it wasn't bad enough that he was constantly having to climb up and down the scaffolding to interact with people he didn't really know, he also couldn't care less about who was doing what. If someone took on an S-Class Quest that they weren't qualified for, so what? It wasn't a mistake anyone would make twice – if they survived long enough to get a second chance, of course. Mages would learn the hard way what they were and weren't capable of, and become stronger for it. That was the way he had always done things.

Still, it was the duty of the Guild Master, so he supposed he should at least pretend to care until his patience ran out. He owed these people that much. It was a real pain… but it was also just a little bit flattering. They really were holding to the promise made in the aftermath of the battle, and doing their best to accept him as their Guild Master. This was the least he could do in return.

When he had been formulating his plan to seize control of the guild, back before the whole Changeling affair had even begun, he hadn't thought much about what being the Master would actually entail. The thought that he might have to take charge of menial tasks like this had never crossed his mind.

It was funny how things worked out, wasn't it? He had set out to change the guild, and in the end, the one who had changed was him. He could finally see things from the other point of view – yes, Fairy Tail wasn't by any means the perfect, powerful guild he had envisioned, but it was home, and that was what mattered. So what if Fairy Tail didn't have the best reputation? _They_ knew they were the greatest guild. So what if people spoke badly of them in other towns? The opinions of strangers didn't matter in the slightest.

Fairy Tail was a force of nature. Nothing anyone said or did would ever be able to prevent it from being itself. It would take some time before they had repaid their debts, rebuilt their guildhall, and reached full strength once more, but they _would_ rise again, Laxus was sure of it. Even if he would never say it out loud, he was proud of the guild – proud of _his_ guild.

Dropping the breeze blocks he had been carrying onto the top level of the scaffolding, he paused to catch his breath. He could easily survey the rest of the guild from up here. The plaza which had become their temporary outdoor guildhall was surprisingly empty, with most of the members out on jobs. Without Natsu and his team around, there was a quiet, if amicable, atmosphere. He wondered if they'd managed to find Erza yet. It surely couldn't be that difficult a task, especially once Freed and the others caught up with them. He was dependable, at least, and would hopefully prevent Natsu from causing any trouble. That was the last thing the guild needed right now.

A sudden movement from down below caught his attention. Or rather, it was the sudden absence of movement. A figure had been walking across the paved area – his grandfather, still in Mira's body – and he had come to a sudden stop, as if he had walked into an invisible wall. Laxus's eyes narrowed at the anomaly.

Makarov's gaze was turned slightly towards the sky, and unfocussed; he was seemingly unaware of anything going on around him. There were no tremors in his magical presence, or Laxus might have worried that Mira's old magic was going out of control again. No, it was almost as if he was listening to something.

After a minute or two, Makarov shook himself back to reality. With a furtive glance around, as if to check no one was watching him, he headed out in the direction of the city centre.

Laxus climbed back down to the ground. He could have jumped from that height, easily, but he was aware of how much damage he could do to the unfinished foundations of the guildhall when he landed – and besides, he had had so much practice at scaling the scaffolding now that climbing was almost as quick anyway. He strode over and had caught up with his grandfather before he had travelled more than a street or two away from the guild.

"What's going on?" Laxus demanded. It was a barely-disguised accusation. If Makarov had somehow failed to recognize that tone of voice, Laxus's position blocking the road ahead would have left him in no doubts.

As it was, the old man was unimpressed. "I'm in a hurry here. Get out of the way."

"Not until you tell me where you're going."

Makarov tried to move round him, but in the narrow street, Laxus blocked him easily. The two of them glared at each other. "Who were you talking to just now?" Laxus asked. The flash of annoyance in his grandfather's eyes told him that his guess had been right. He took another gamble: "Someone at the Tower of Heaven? What are you keeping from us, old man?"

As he had thought, the open accusation provoked a response. "Nothing like that," Makarov growled. "It was my old friend Yajima from the Council, checking that I'm still alive, apparently. They've worked out Mira is pretending to be me, and she's in trouble. I'm going to set things straight."

With that, he pushed past Laxus and resumed his walk towards Magnolia's train station. He had almost reached the end of the street when Laxus called, "And you just, what, weren't going to tell me?"

Makarov stopped, but didn't turn round. "This is between the Magic Council, Mirajane, and myself. It doesn't concern you."

"If it's about the guild, then of course it concerns me."

"Since when have you cared about the guild?"

"Since it became my responsibility as Master!" Laxus challenged.

"Don't you dare talk to me about responsibility! You have no right to be Master!"

Laxus's response was utterly calm. "Don't take it out on me, old man, just because you're pissed that you didn't get your old job back after the Battle of Fairy Tail."

That got a response, alright. Furiously, the old man whirled around to confront his grandson, all thoughts of heading to the Council forgotten. "This time, Laxus, you've gone too far! I made you Master because I had no choice – you have done _nothing_ to earn that title! No, you have only brought harm to this guild! Fairy Tail is on the verge of ruin because of the damage you have done to our reputation and to Magnolia! We have fellow guild members in hospital, because you put them there! All the tension in the guild has come from fear of you and your actions! You went to _war_ against Fairy Tail, and now you're trying to make out like you're a good Master?"

"I _know_ all that!" Laxus was shouting too. He couldn't help it. They had both gone too far now to back down. "I've caused a lot of problems for this guild, and that's why I'm doing everything in my power to put them right! I'm not ashamed to admit that I was wrong and move on from that!" Lightning crackled dangerously in his eyes. "But what about you? When are you going to take responsibility for what _you've_ done to the guild?"

The temperature in the street dropped several degrees as the air around the two of them swirled thick with power and anger. "What are you trying to say?"

"Everything that's happened to Fairy Tail was my fault, you say?" Laxus asked scornfully. "Sure, a lot of it was. But it's a little too convenient for you to just pin everything on me, and overlook the fact that _you_ were the one who caused all this!"

"What the hell are you-?"

"I'm talking about Changeling! You're the one who put that request on the board to get back at Natsu and the others for going off without permission! You're the one who cursed the guild! Oh sure, you never meant for it to get this far, but you did nothing while Levy and the others were panicking; I'm sure you were getting a good laugh out of it the entire time, weren't you? That negligence led to the curse becoming permanent – you could have stopped it at any moment, and you chose not to! Is that how a Master should act towards his guild?

"Everything is apparently _my_ fault – but if you hadn't been so stupid, none of this would have happened in the first place! Without Changeling, you could have defeated Phantom Lord easily – I would never have even had to come back to Magnolia, let alone be made Guild Master to clean up your mistake! Not to mention, if you hadn't acted so recklessly and lost control of Mira's magic, you could have led the guild in the fight, rather than sleeping through the entire thing! You brought this catastrophe upon the guild and then left them to fend for themselves! And still you say it's all because of me?"

Makarov was staring at him in stunned silence. Scowling, Laxus stuck his hands in his pockets. "Sure, I'm not exactly in a position to berate you for making a mistake. It was an accident, I know, whereas I turned upon the guild knowing full well what the consequences would be. But the thing is, old man – not once have you apologized. Not once have you admitted that the Changeling fiasco was your fault, or that you might be even partly to blame for everything that the guild has been through. You speak to me about my responsibility, but when are you going to take responsibility for what _you_ have done?"

Still the old man didn't speak. He didn't look like he was able to. Well, Laxus had come too far to stop now. He might as well say exactly what was on his mind. "You ask me what right I have to call myself Master, after what I've done? Well, I'll tell you."

He wasn't the best person for the job. He knew that now – in fact, there was more than a small part of him that wanted to back down and give his grandfather back his old role. No one was more aware than he that he didn't deserve to be Master. But for every part of him that doubted, there was another screaming with righteous pride. Fairy Tail could have forced him to step down after the Battle of Fairy Tail and they had not; when he had tried to leave the guild altogether, they had fought for him to stay. That knowledge became his strength.

"I didn't ask to be forgiven, but Fairy Tail chose to put their faith in me anyway. That is all the right that I need." He met his grandfather's eyes with a resolve he hadn't even known he possessed until that moment. "I won't give that up just because you can't face the fact that you let everyone down. You can be Master again once you've proven that you deserve it!"

With that, he wheeled around, lightning bursting to life around his entire body. Makarov instinctively took a step backwards.

But Laxus just said, "I'm going to settle things with the Magic Council, once and for all." And then he was gone, a bolt of lightning arcing up into the sky, leaving behind nothing but silence.

* * *

"What is the meaning of this, Yajima?" Org demanded.

"I mean exactly what I said," came the old man's resolute response. "That man is not the Makarov that I know."

"He looks like him – and that is definitely his magical presence, or our sensors would have detected it as soon as he came into this room."

"I don't understand it myself, but I am certain. I have just contacted Makarov myself with telepathy and he is not in this room with us." Yajima's gaze, harsh and unfriendly, turned once more to Mira. "Well? Do you deny that you are not Makarov Dreyar?"

In despair, Mira hung her head. What else could she do? "No. I am not him."

A stunned silence followed. In her weakened state, she couldn't sense the build-up of magic power in the room, but she could see it – magic seals appeared at Lahar's hands in preparation to strike, and at least two Council members were ready to summon defensive magic at a moment's notice. The thought that she might be attacked didn't even scare her. Her entire body was numb. She wanted to be able to just pass out and forget about all of this.

"Then who are you?" Org hissed.

But blissful unconsciousness didn't come. There was one thought in her head, drowning out all others: _it's my fault it's my fault it's my fault-_

"Who are you?" he repeated; louder this time, and a lot less patient.

A meek voice whispered a response; Mira was surprised to find that that voice was hers. "Mirajane Strauss, of Fairy Tail."

The councillors did not lower their guard. "Mira?" Yajima murmured, confused. Had he been expecting an enemy impersonating his friend, rather than a fellow guild member? "How are you doing that? Transformation Magic?"

"No." It was Siegrain who answered that. As usual, there was a small smile on his face, and a smugness in his tone that Mira hardly noticed. "No kind of Transformation Magic can change a person's magical presence; it would never have been able to deceive our sensors. It's almost as if… well, as if the two of them have swapped bodies, don't you think?"

Those words cut through the mire of anguish surrounding Mira like a steel blade. Startled, she glanced up to meet his glittering eyes, and her suspicions were confirmed at once – _he knew_. It couldn't be a coincidence. Especially when he hadn't shared in the surprise of the others at Yajima's announcement.

In an instant, the despair and the guilt vanished. She had something to grasp hold of now – anger to focus her mind, and an enemy to direct it towards. How could he know? It was possible that someone in Fairy Tail had told him, but everyone in the guild knew how damaging it could be if that secret got out, and she didn't believe for a second that any of her colleagues would have betrayed them. Other than that… well, it was possible that someone from Phantom Lord might have figured it out during the fight and told him, but the timing was wrong – he couldn't have known during her first trial, or he'd have surely used that knowledge against her. He must have found out since then. That just left the possibility that he had somehow encountered someone afflicted by Changeling while they were out on a job-

 _The Tower of Heaven_.

Her heart skipped a beat. Whatever they might be there for, Natsu and Lucy wouldn't have gone to the Tower without Happy, their teammate. Even Erza might be there. It was far too much of a coincidence for Mira to just accept. Siegrain was most likely in contact with someone in the Tower. This brother of his? Just what the hell was going on here?

Mira didn't know, and the answers weren't forthcoming. But one thing was clear in her mind: Siegrain was mocking her because he thought that she would no longer have the courage to speak out against his Etherion plan - and he couldn't have been more wrong. He had just given her a reason to keep on fighting.

She had brought nothing but harm to her guild during the two times she had posed as Makarov, and now she had to do whatever was left in her power to help her friends in the Tower of Heaven. With magic or without; no matter how bad her own personal circumstances; regardless of whether or not there was any hope that she could actually change anything - she had to try.

"Is this true?" someone was asking her.

"It is." Mira turned to face the Council with new resolve, and her voice was perfectly steady. "Over a week ago – on the day before the incident with Phantom Lord – our guild was accidentally hit by a curse called Changeling, which causes people to swap bodies and magic. Ten of our strongest members were affected by it, including the Master and myself. Six of us are back to normal, but for the rest of us it has yet to wear off. I am Makarov, and he is me."

Org accused, "So, rather than informing the Council about this, as would have been proper, you thought you would lie about it instead, Mirajane?"

"Because they're Fairy Tail…" Michello muttered darkly.

"There's an even simpler explanation," Siegrain cut in. "Isn't there, Mira? You were worried that if we learned ten of your strongest members, including your Master, were out of action, we would suspend you from doing jobs, weren't you? Or even worse, that we'd see it as a reason to disband Fairy Tail once and for all?"

"You'd use it as an excuse!" Mira shot back. "Fairy Tail is more than capable of taking on their usual share of jobs – even like this, we defeated Phantom Lord! It's Fairy Tail's problem, and we're dealing with it ourselves – it's none of the Council's business! But you'd seize it as justification to have us unfairly shut down!"

"A personal grudge against the Council is no reason to conceal information this important from us! Negligence is yet another crime to add to Fairy Tail's ever-growing list. Not to mention, impersonating the accused is a very serious offence, Mirajane," Org added. "Coming here in the place of Master Makarov-"

"While we're doing this, there's probably something else you should know." Defiance gave her courage. "Makarov isn't the Master of Fairy Tail any more."

At this, Org laughed out loud. "An illegal change of Guild Master on top of everything else! Operating under false pretences; what are you going to reveal next? That Fairy Tail is behind the Tower of Heaven plot?" He slammed his hand down onto the desk. "Go on then, amuse us. Who is your new Master? You?"

"That would be Laxus Dreyar."

"…Is this supposed to be a joke?" When Mira didn't respond, he shook his head in incredulity. "No wonder you failed to inform us about your new Master! That troublemaker Laxus, in charge of a guild? Only yesterday he went on a rampage which destroyed half a city! Just when I thought Fairy Tail couldn't get any worse, you spring something like this on us? Perhaps we should be grateful Fairy Tail have got themselves embroiled in the Tower of Heaven affair! We can get rid of the two biggest nuisances in the magical world in one blow!"

"Hold on!" Mira broke in. Shivers of alarm prickled like knives along her skin. "Fairy Tail aren't the enemy here!"

"Any guild which considers itself to be above the law is a threat to the stability of the magical world! Guilds which mock the authority of the Council are unquestionably the enemies of our society! Between your Master, your attitude, and all the damage you've caused, Fairy Tail might as well be a Dark Guild!"

"I know we've made some mistakes, but we would never do anything like that! The past few days have just been exceptional – we have no intention of usurping the Council's authority or of disturbing the peace! We're all on the same side!"

Before Org could reply, Siegrain cut in smoothly. "That's all well and good, but we can deal with Fairy Tail later. Might I suggest that we return to the more pressing matter?"

"By all means. You know, I find myself agreeing more and more with you and Ultear. With Etherion, we can kill two birds with one stone."

"Fairy Tail will prevent Jellal from-" Mira began fiercely, but no one was about to listen to what she had to say.

To Lahar, Org added, "Begin moving Satellite Square into position. Should we gather the remaining votes, we will need to act with all haste to fire Etherion." The other nodded respectfully and left.

Michello spoke up from the back. "Stopping the R-System and saving the world is the most important thing. We shouldn't refrain from ending it right here and now for the sake of a handful of mages who basically belong to a Dark Guild anyway. I am in favour of using Etherion."

"That's four votes for," Siegrain said. He was trying to put on his usual solemn façade, but even he could not suppress the glee in his voice. "One more, and the sacred light will rain down."

"I remain opposed," declared Yajima. "Whether it is turned upon the guilty or the innocent, known enemies of the Council or young mages doing what they think is right, unleashing Etherion is mass murder, plain and simple. I will not even consider it until all other avenues of resolving this have been exhausted – negotiation, the army, contacting other legal guilds, or even requesting the aid of Fairy Tail."

"I am also opposed," added Belno. "The use of Etherion is not sanctioned by international law unless we have just cause to believe that the world is in danger. We know too little about the situation to make such a momentous decision."

There were murmurings of agreement from the others. Moments passed, and no one spoke up to provide that elusive fifth vote. Mira didn't dare to breathe.

Then Siegrain sighed, and dashed all her hopes to the ground. "I suppose I'll have to tell you the truth, then."

"What are you going on about now, Siegrain?" Yajima snapped.

The young man put his hands in his pockets, his downcast gaze turned towards the floor. "I kept it a secret because I didn't want to cause undue panic, but now... You are all aware that the R-System is forbidden magic designed to revive the dead, correct?" They each nodded impatiently. "Well, the person Jellal is attempting to bring back is none other than the Black Mage Zeref."

"Zeref!" Org exclaimed.

But Yajima's shout was just as loud. "You claimed earlier that you didn't know what your brother was up to!"

A flash of annoyance. "I knew it has long been the aim of Jellal's cult to resurrect Zeref. Until Lahar informed us about the R-System earlier, however, I was unaware that he had acquired the means to do so."

"Zeref's resurrection would mean the end of the world," Ultear murmured. There was a feverish gleam in her eyes. "Death, destruction, and chaos, the likes of which our world has never seen. Demons will roam free. What was once broken will be unified. The One Great Magic will live again, and all ordinary life will be erased."

Horrified, Org insisted, "This cannot be allowed to happen! As the Magic Council, it is our duty to prevent such calamities from striking our world."

"Is there any doubt now that our actions would be protected by law, Belno?" Siegrain asked. Without waiting for a response, he spread his arms wide. "For the sake of the world, let us take one final vote on the matter."

* * *

Natsu had been expecting any one of several responses from Erza. She might have laughed, berated him for being slow, and whipped out the cure for Changeling she had discovered to use on Happy. She might have been angry – she was Erza Scarlet, S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail, so of course the curse would break for her as soon as she had recovered enough magic power. She might have been happy but clueless, not having the faintest idea how it had happened but not questioning it in the slightest, just like the Erza he knew.

If the worst had come to the worst, she might have been defensive. How dare he believe the lies of that evil stranger Jellal? When had he started doubting his friends? It would have been difficult, but at least that reaction was one he could have understood.

What he hadn't been expecting was for her to take a step back, tears springing to her eyes. "Why… why would you say such a thing, Natsu?" she pleaded.

"Erza?" he wondered.

She raised her arms, as if to ward off a physical blow. "Everything was going to be okay. We could have gone back to the guild and all been happy together, just like before. It would all have been…" Her words broke apart into sobs, her shoulders heaving. Natsu wanted to run to her, but something made him hold his ground. "But you had to go and ask… why couldn't you just accept it?"

"Because Happy is our friend too, Erza. He's just as important as you are."

"How can you say that? How can you…?" Once again, her conviction broke. Natsu was grateful when her tearful, imploring eyes turned away from his. "Things were going to go back to normal…"

"This isn't normal, Erza," he told her firmly. "I don't know what's going on here, but how can you say that this is normal?" He glanced from Jellal, who was struggling to get to his feet, to Happy, the mirror image of Erza, looking just as close to tears as she was. "Erza! Talk to me! What the hell happened to you?"

"You'll just take it away from me, won't you? No matter how hard I try, it won't be enough. I'll always end up with nothing. I thought I could… become strong…"

"Erza?"

"No. Maybe it's not too late," she murmured, suddenly still. "The others don't know yet. I can still go back to the guild with them and everything will be okay. If I just make it so you can't tell anyone what happened here…"

And then there was a sword flashing in her hand as she ran towards Natsu. Her beautiful red hair trailed behind her, mingling with the scattered drops of the tears she had cast away. Jellal yelled a warning. Natsu tried to move, but his knee collapsed under him; he had taken far too much damage earlier to be able to fight now. He had to do something – summon some fire to force her back, or _something!_ – but before his friend's murderous intent, turned upon him, all rational thoughts fled his mind.

That blade carved down towards him and came to a stop with a resounding clang. Inches away from Natsu's neck, two identical swords crossed – Erza's and Happy's. Though Happy's arms trembled under the force of parrying the blow, his stance was proud. "This time, Natsu, I'll be the one to protect you!" he declared. "And I swear that I will win!"

"You have no right to talk like that, Fake Erza!" she snarled.

"You're the one pretending to be Erza!" Natsu retorted.

Erza stepped back, swinging her sword. "Shut up! Requip!"

" _Requip!_ " repeated Happy.

Erza was overconfident. She went with sheer power – Heaven's Wheel Armour, ready to put an end to this fight in a single strike. In each hand she held a sword a normal man would have struggled to lift, their hilts curved to look like the wings of angels. With a flash, another two swords appeared in the air beside her, suspended through her effortless telekinesis. She pointed her sword to direct them towards Happy-

Who streaked past her side, almost too quick for the eye to see. Happy had Requipped Flight Armour, which granted him a speed of movement as formidable as that of the cheetah which had inspired the armour's design. Before she had the chance to rectify her mistake, he was behind her, turning to attack even as he Requipped an enormous spiked mace into his hands.

However, it was a look of fury, rather than a look of fear, that crossed Erza's face. "A fast armour to get behind your opponent, and an attack from Purgatory Armour before they can react. You stole that tactic from me!"

"You taught it to me!" Happy shouted back. "Because we're teammates, Erza!"

The last word became a shriek as he swung the devilish black weapon towards her with all of his might. Braced for the impact, he closed his eyes tight, only to have the shiver of metal striking metal reverberate through his arms. The two floating swords had blocked the attack. Erza had parried through sheer force of will, without even turning around.

She gave him no warning. She pivoted on the spot, slashing down in the same direction with both swords. The lower blade was turned harmlessly away by Happy's left greave, but no one knew her armours better than she did, and the upper blade found the gap between the plates that she sought and buried itself into Happy's thigh. He let out a cry; when she drew her swords back, the edge of one was covered in blood.

"Give up, imposter," she hissed.

"I can't do that. I promised Natsu I would win!"

With a wordless scream, Erza kicked him in the chest. As he spiralled through the air, sending a cascade of crimson droplets spinning in all directions, he drew upon his courage and shouted once more, "Requip!"

Even to Erza, Requipping while tumbling through the air like that was impressive. Yet Happy was a flying cat – he spent most of his life in the air. This came naturally to him. His new armour was black like before, but far lighter, designed to be used with the great pair of draconic wings protruding from his back. He checked his flight as easily as a human would have taken a step. Twisting, he hit the wall feet-first; taking all his weight onto his uninjured leg, he kicked off again and soared back towards Erza.

Her look was one of pure rage. A dozen swords winked into existence around her before launching towards Happy.

Unafraid, he called out, "Moon Slash!" Bringing his curved blade round in a wide two-handed arc, he launched a wave of energy from it, scattering the flung swords. In the next heartbeat, he was swinging at Erza herself.

She brought up both of her swords to block it in the nick of time. Though the force of it made her take a step back, she had defended successfully, and now that Happy's momentum of flight had been lost, the advantage was hers once again. As his feet returned to the floor, he was immediately forced to shift his weight away from his injured leg as another surge of blood burst from the wound.

Erza didn't give him a chance to recover. She pressed her advantage with both swords flashing, forcing Happy backwards. He staggered across the floor, unable to match her superior swordsmanship; it took all his concentration just to keep those twin blades from cutting into him once again.

Neither of the spectators could take their eyes off the battle. Jellal was too worn out to even stand. After exhausting almost all of his magic power earlier, he was barely clinging on to consciousness. Yet he was watching the two Erzas fight with rapt fascination, terrified and awed.

Similarly, Natsu felt sheer admiration for his partner's skill – but also alarm. Though they seemed even at the moment, he knew the odds were overwhelmingly in Erza's favour. Happy was Requipping constantly, and no matter which armour he used, she was holding him off with her swordsmanship alone. She didn't need to Requip to win; she wasn't even taking this battle seriously. Happy would run out of magic power long before he could land a blow upon Erza.

Natsu clenched his fists. Happy was always helping him out in battles. Whenever he needed him, that cat was always there, swooping in to fly him out of danger. And now that Happy was fighting on his behalf, he could do nothing. His body ached all over, and he felt completely drained – he couldn't even stay upright, let alone draw upon any magic to help. "Happy," he whispered. "Please… please stop her!"

"Natsu?" Happy murmured. And then, as if an idea had suddenly come to him: "Natsu!"

Energy surged within him to match his resolve. In between blows, his sword vanished, to be replaced by the enormous spiked Purgatory mace once again. Erza hadn't been expecting him to suddenly fight back – one powerful blow tore the blades from her grasp and sent them spinning across the floor. Scowling, she raised her hand to Requip more, but this time Happy was faster.

"Requip! Giant's Armour!" Even before the golden plate armour had finished forming around him, he seized Erza with both hands and threw her bodily across the room, the magic of the armour amplifying his strength. She had taught him that one, too.

However, rather than chasing her down and pressing home his advantage, Happy turned towards Natsu as he Requipped once more. Dark red plates embraced his body. With his hands raised high above his head, he drew upon the power of the Flame Empress Armour to conjure a ball of fire – and throw it not at Erza, but at Natsu.

Understanding instantly, Natsu caught the fireball in both hands, utterly unaffected by the heat of it, and began to eat. It wouldn't heal the damage he had taken, but already he could feel the warmth spreading through his veins, rekindling the dragon's fire within him. That slippery sensation of magic, which had been doggedly evading his attempts to grasp it, suddenly overwhelmed him in its eagerness to be given form. He was not about to deny it that chance.

Erza hadn't forgotten her friend's abilities in her madness. In an attempt to end this as quickly as possible, she Requipped Flight Armour and shot towards Happy. The former cat waited until the last moment, trusting in the friend behind him. Then he danced aside – and Erza found herself flying straight into the vortex of a Fire Dragon's Roar.

For a moment, Natsu thought they had done it. Then there came the sound of Erza screaming, only it wasn't the Erza in the fire who was in pain, but Happy, who should have been safely out of danger. Golden light encircled his body. It might have been a Requip, but Erza's magic had never caused him any pain before – and it was going on for far too long.

"Happy!" Natsu yelled, panicking. He tried to stand but fell straight away. Why had he put everything into that attack? He should have held something back!

A crack appeared in the light blazing around Happy's body. A moment later there was another, tearing all the way down his leg as if he were made of china. Then the entire thing shattered, throwing Happy's dark silhouette to the floor. His scream became a heaving pant. He didn't get up.

As the flames died away, and Erza became visible once more, Natsu began to see why. Erza was wearing the Flame Empress Armour that Happy had had on just a moment ago, rendering her completely safe from Natsu's hottest flames. There were cracks in the armour's crimson plating, but that did nothing to dampen Erza's satisfied smile. "This armour belongs to me. It knows its true master."

Happy twitched. Pulling together his remaining strength, he forced himself into a sitting position; tried and failed to stand. It was clear now that he was wearing nothing but Erza's underwear. She had stripped his armour from him. "I'm sorry, Natsu," he whispered, shivering. "I'm sorry… I couldn't…"

"Happy!" Natsu yelled. His fist shook with desperation. "Erza! How could you do this to a teammate? To a fellow member of Fairy Tail? To a friend?"

"Shut up!" She kicked Happy in the side; he whimpered and curled up into a ball. "Friends are worthless! They only take things from you!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Natsu shouted back.

There was a flicker of motion in the corner of his eye. At the far side of the room, Jellal was finally getting to his feet, using the giant central crystal to support his weight. Natsu wasn't sure if he could put his trust in the other man or not – there was every possibility he might go for the kill again if he got the chance.

But if he did nothing, Erza as she was now might well kill them all. He would have to gamble that Jellal didn't have enough power left to murder her outright. Throwing caution to the winds, he resisted the urge to shout out a warning and fixed his gaze on Erza, using all of his willpower not to give Jellal's movements away.

"I tried so hard! But you all changed back and I was stuck as a cat, and no one cared about me-"

"Of course that's not true! And you know it's not, Erza! I know this isn't the real you talking! What happened to you?"

" _No one cared._ Not even you. If you had just accepted it, we could have gone back home together, Natsu. It's your fault that things have to end this way."

Far from appearing downcast, however, a dark smile danced across her face at the prospect. She raised the armour's flaming sword towards Natsu, and then lowered it again. "That won't work on you, will it?" The fire running up and down the red metal vanished. She grabbed the hilt firmly with both hands. "I suppose I will have to slice you open with my own two hands."

As she stepped forwards to end Natsu's life, she had forgotten about the person lying at her feet. No matter how beaten up he was, Happy would not let anyone harm his partner while he still breathed. Natsu would have done the same for him. With the last of his power he Requipped the only weapon he could manage – a small dagger – into his hand, and lunged along the floor at her feet.

"What-?" Erza tried, and then her strangled shout became a shriek of agony as Happy slipped the blade through the crack in the armour and deep into her leg. Skin and tendons parted effortlessly beneath the edge of his desperation; it severed the twitching muscles and lodged itself firmly in the bone.

She fell to her knees. Pain flooded her senses, breaking even her formidable focus. The sword tumbled from her limp fingers, bounced once, and returned to whichever extradimensional space she normally kept it in. The forced Requip of the armour must have taken as much out of her as it had of Happy, for that single deep wound had brought her to the ground.

"Erza-" Natsu tried, reaching out for her, hoping against hope that it had shattered her will to fight.

But she had come far too far to let anything stop her now. It wasn't too late to make everything work out. She had her body and her magic back now. If she could silence Natsu, Happy and Jellal here, she could tell the others that they all killed each other fighting, and then she could return to the guild and they would accept her and everything could still go back to how it was…

The light of the crystal trembled and dimmed. Fearful shadows detached themselves from the floor and swirled around Erza's outstretched hand. Now _this_ was power. With this, she wouldn't have to hide behind her armour any more. She could stand proud in the light of day. More of this – and she could get it if she made the man before her into a sacrifice. He had to die anyway, so that she could keep the truth hidden. But if she were stronger, she could do what she wanted – _be_ whom she wanted, with no need to fear the past. All she had to do was to fulfil the purpose that the Tower had been built for…

The darkness became a living claw, reaching for Natsu's throat. At that moment, Jellal appeared at her side. The shadows dissolved in the white light radiating from his hand. For all the endless sadness in his eyes, there was not a shred of mercy, and for the first time, looking over the edge of the void of madness that existed within Erza, Natsu understood why. Just for a moment, fear of that inhuman darkness struggled against his desire to protect his friend, and that hesitation cost him the chance to stop Jellal.

But as the other was about to strike Erza down, there was a flash of blue light – and all of a sudden, a large spike of ice was protruding from Jellal's chest. A bubble of blood burst on his startled lips. Then the magic at his hand winked out and he fell without a sound.

Alarmed, Natsu turned towards the doors, where six new figures were standing. Most of them he didn't recognize, but that half-naked man at the front was one he knew all too well. In the intensity of everything that had happened, Natsu had all but forgotten that anyone outside of that room still existed.

"Gray!" he shouted. "Stop!"

The ice mage didn't lower his hand. "He's our enemy, Natsu."

"Simon explained everything," Lucy added. "This whole Tower is a weapon Jellal is trying to use to sacrifice Erza and resurrect Zeref."

Natsu glanced at Jellal, lying unconscious on the floor beside him. "No, he's not. Not any more."

"What the hell are you on about?" Gray snapped, losing patience. Everything about the scenario he had burst into made him feel uneasy – Jellal unconscious, defeated far too easily; Natsu, seemingly too exhausted to stand; one Erza on the ground, clutching her leg and shuddering, while a second Erza had her hand locked tightly around a knife whose blade was chipped and covered in blood.

"I don't really understand it myself," Natsu told him quietly. "But he isn't our enemy. Whatever it was that had a hold on him has control of Erza now. He was trying to stop her."

"Erza?" Lucy asked, her eyes widening in realization. "What… happened?"

"I think she was suffering more than any of us ever realized, and that pain drove her to give up something important in exchange for getting her old body back."

"Then she..."

"Perhaps now isn't the best time for explanations." Simon had moved to the window and was glancing out in worry. "We have to get out of the Tower of Heaven, right now."

"Not until Jellal is dead!" Sho retorted, viciously.

"It can wait!" Simon returned. "The Magic Council is about to fire Etherion upon the Tower. If we're here when that happens, we'll _all_ die!"

Gray choked, " _Etherion?_ "

"How do you know?" This was Millianna's demand. Just like Sho, she had fixed Jellal's unconscious form with an angry glare, desiring nothing more than to make him pay for the eight years he had spent deceiving them all. She couldn't accept just on the word of a complete stranger that he wasn't their enemy any more.

"Have you seen the sky?" Simon asked. "Get everyone out of the Tower now! We'll work out what to do when we're safely away from here!"

Wally, who had also moved to the window to check the scenario, remarked, "It's no good. The others have taken all the boats."

Simon had not been to only one to sense the gathering of the grey clouds of portent, nor see the enormous magic circles glinting in the sky above the Tower. Even those who did not know what Etherion was recognized deadly magic when they saw it – and that was not to mention the vast releases of magic power and the explosions that had come from the room at the Tower's summit. All the servants of the Tower had piled onto the remaining ships and were fleeing for their lives.

"There's still the boat we arrived on," Natsu told them. "Gray, Lucy – take Jellal and Happy and get out of here."

The others were hesitant, but when it came down to it, both of them trusted Natsu. Gray nodded once. Lucy asked, "What about you, Natsu?"

"I'm going to stay with Erza."

"But Natsu-"

It would be enough of a struggle to fit the eight of them in that little fishing boat as it was; with him and Erza was well, they would never manage to get away in time, even if it did somehow stay afloat. Not to mention, with Erza the way she was, if he brought her back, he would only be endangering the rest of the guild.

But he couldn't abandon her either. He couldn't leave her to die alone any more than he could let her out of his sight and risk her escaping the destruction of the Tower.

"I won't let her go until I have the old Erza back. She'd do the same for me."

"But-"

"GO!"

They did so. Gray carried Jellal. He didn't trust any of the others to do it; it was a push for even him to believe Natsu at this point. Lucy lifted Happy, with Simon's help, and with a final glance back at Natsu, she headed for the stairs. "Don't die, Natsu," she whispered.

He turned his head to smile at her. "Goodbye, Lucy."

Then the sounds of the group receded down the stairs, and faded entirely, leaving Natsu and Erza utterly alone. He looked at her without a word, and she stared back at him. He had no idea what must have been going through her head. Had she calmed down? He wanted to believe that she had, but nothing would be that simple. She sat with her knees drawn up to her chest, both hands clasping her wounded leg, as if she could suppress the agony with her hands alone. At least she was quiet now. The only sound in the room was their ragged breathing, ever so slightly out of sync with each other.

Natsu said, "I'm sorry for not understanding, Erza. You've been hurting inside for a long time, haven't you?"

"Don't act like you know what I've been through."

"But I do know. Because most of it, Erza – we went through it together, don't you remember? Even if you can't see that right now, the Erza I know is still there somewhere, and I know she would never give up on those memories so easily."

"You should leave," she told him quietly. "You'll die if you stay."

He searched for a sign of honesty in her eyes, but all he found there were shadows. He almost smiled. "And let you go on a rampage again? No. I'll stay with you until the very end." His hand closed around her wrist, affectionate but firm. He would not let her escape, no matter what. "I'm sorry that this has happened. I don't know what would make you give up on Fairy Tail and your friends, but I know it must be something awful, and I can't allow that to exist. Whether or not my words are reaching you, I won't leave this place until we can go back to the guild together."

"Then we'll die here. You and me both."

"No, we won't."

"When Etherion fires-"

"Etherion isn't going to fire," he told her, and he honestly believed it. "Do you know why, Erza? Because Mira is there in the Council, right now, fighting on Fairy Tail's behalf. She'd never let them do something like that."

"She won't be able to stop it!"

"Of course she will. I believe in her, because she's part of Fairy Tail, and she's my friend. When did you stop believing in those things, Erza?" He shook his head and smiled. "No, I guess it doesn't matter. Now that the others are safely out of danger, I can stay with you for as long as it takes for you to remember them. Etherion will not fire. It'll be alright. I promise."

* * *

"And that decides it." Org spoke with great solemnity, for the weight of the future rested upon his shoulders. "Eight votes have been cast for the motion, and one against. We will fire Etherion. May the sacred light open the way to a brighter tomorrow."

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Huh, seems like Laxus grew up a lot while he was off-screen. I'm very proud of him. When I decided way back at the start of this story that Changeling had been Makarov's prank gone wrong as a kind of semi-jokey-explanation for the whole affair, I always intended for it to have repercussions. It was only a matter of time before someone called him out on it, and while I think it wouldn't even occur to most people in the guild to consider that it might actually be his fault, it certainly would to Laxus, given the tension between the two of them over the whole Guild Master thing. Perhaps Laxus is being a little harsh, but, I don't know, that's not really the point. I'm very much looking forward to resolving that storyline. Laxus hasn't been in this story nearly enough recently..._

 _As for the rest of the chapter, well... I guess it's one of those situations where it's got to get worse before it can get better? ~CS_


	22. The Resolve of a Tormented Man

_**A/N:** Chapter Twenty-Two. If I'm allowed a "least favourite chapter" in my own story, it would be this one. Reading back through it really made me realize how much of this chapter is just me putting off the scene that I absolutely had to write but really really didn't want to... ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Two: The Resolve of a Tormented Man**

It was as if night had fallen upon the Tower of Heaven. In all directions, as far as the eye could see, the sky was a blanket of thick black clouds, separating the world below from the light of the late afternoon sun. There were no stars to decorate that false nightfall, only the flickering torches on the other boats, as those who had been slaves to the will of the Tower's dark master made good their escape.

Yet there was light – a terrible, unnatural light, which only served to dampen any cheer left in that place. In the sky there was a single break in the clouds, directly above the top of the Tower. This was the calm at the centre of the slow-turning tempest, through which they fancied they could see all the way up to the dark blue of endless space. And stretching up through those clouds to the heavens beyond was a line of enormous magic seals.

Some were square, some were circular; all were intricately detailed, with each one far beyond the capabilities of any single mage to produce. Each shone with a different bright colour, yet when put together the light they radiated down to the earth became a sickly, washed-out grey. No good could come of a magic that could only destroy. This was the Magic Council's doomsday weapon: Etherion.

For now, it was dormant. The magic seals rotated slowly, carrying with them the great vortex of storm clouds, biding their time as the power charged up in the enormous lacrima back in the Council's headquarters.

Even inactive, however, that intense a concentration of magic would find a way to make its presence felt. Those waiting in the boat down below felt all the hair on their arms rise with the static charge. The air was thick with fear of the imminent apocalypse; unnaturally warm and humid, like the beginning of a stormy summer's afternoon. Ripples ran through the sea below them. Neither wind nor tidal currents had been able to stir up waves in that still water, but the mere threat of such magic had induced in it motions of restless anticipation. The little fishing boat bobbed up and down, held in place only by the rope tying it to the shore. In the increasing pressure, it wouldn't hold out for long.

"We've got to leave!" Gray emphasized. There was no doubt what he was talking about; the impending storm weighed heavily on all of their minds. "We need to be well clear of this place when they fire Etherion!"

Lucy's hand tightened around that rope, their lifeline. "Not yet. Please. Natsu will come."

"We don't have time!" Gray clenched his fist. "I know how you feel, Lucy, but he chose to stay – there's no use in all of us dying here!"

"Just a little longer. Please."

Gray gritted his teeth, but he too wanted to hope that Natsu would join them. A tremor ran through the Tower, drawing their attention immediately. Lightning struck, close enough to blind them, bringing with it a deafening peal of thunder. Millianna crouched low in the bottom of the boat, trembling like a cat at the sound. Sho put his arm around her protectively, though it was clear he was just as scared as she was.

With concern, Lucy glanced from them back to the Tower, feeling her heart twist painfully. "Maybe we should – Gray!"

Startled by the sudden alarm in her voice, he glanced up to see chunks of rock falling out of the sky, straight towards their boat. "Ice Make: Lance!" The closest rocks were blown to smithereens, while others fell into the water around them, the resultant waves pitching their boat forwards violently. As they clutched the sides for balance, lightning struck the Tower again. More broken fragments of the walls tumbled down towards them. Gray blasted them aside too, along with some help from Wally.

But it was only a matter of time. This was the only warning they were going to get. If just one of those rocks put a hole through their boat, they would lose their only chance to escape from the Tower. The air trembled and the earth shook.

"Lucy!" Gray shouted. "We're leaving, now!" She met his eyes and nodded, untying the rope from the boat and letting it fall into the water. Slowly, the spiralling current began to carry them away from the Tower.

It wasn't fast enough. There came the largest explosion yet, seemingly from just above them. A great block of stone bounced down the side of the Tower and headed straight for their boat. Gritting his teeth, Gray used Ice Make to create a giant hammer, swinging it with enough force to knock the rock away before it could hit them. It plunged into the water beside them, almost capsizing the boat; Gray would have toppled straight overboard if Lucy hadn't grabbed hold of his arm.

But behind that rock was another, this one even bigger than the first. It was only inches away from the boat when an enormous beam of white light engulfed it, instantly reducing it and all the others around it to dust.

Jellal was awake. His raised arm trembled with the effort of using magic again, but his eyes were dark and focussed. Ignoring the looks his former friends shot him, he forced himself to his feet. When he noticed that the waves were carrying them slowly away from the Tower, he gave a startled shout. "Erza!"

He looked as if he were about to jump into the sea and swim back to the Tower. Gray grabbed his arm and pulled him back with an effort. "You can't!"

"I have to stop her!"

"You can't go back in there!" Gray reiterated firmly. "The Council is about to hit the Tower with Etherion. Everything inside it will be wiped out!"

He wasn't expecting the look of sheer horror on Jellal's face. "No! That's exactly what she wants!"

"…What?"

"The entire Tower is an enormous lacrima! It's designed to capture and store the energy from Etherion, which is the final element needed to activate the R-System! That was my plan all along – her plan, now. When Etherion fires, she'll sacrifice Natsu, and then…" He turned towards the Tower, and cold danger replaced the desperation in his voice. "I can't let that happen. I have to stop Erza."

"You can't-" Gray began.

Before he could finish, Jellal drove his fist into Gray's solar plexus. As he collapsed, startled, Jellal crouched low in the bottom of the boat. He paused for a moment to gather all the power he had left. He had strength enough for this. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "But I was the one who started this. I have to put an end to it. _Meteor!_ "

There was a terrifying moment where he thought he wouldn't have enough magic left, but then the spell activated, filling his limbs with its familiar energy. Golden light gathered around his body and he launched himself from the boat. He shot straight towards another flurry of rocks that the pressure had dislodged from the side of the Tower, using them as stepping stones to bound upwards into the sky with incredible speed.

Grunting painfully, Gray managed to stand up again. "Who the hell does he think he is?"

Lucy said, "If what he said is true, then the whole world could be in danger. Maybe we can trust him to stop Erza-"

"No. He hasn't gone to stop her, Lucy. He's gone to kill her."

"Gray-!"

"Ice Make: Floor!" Gray touched his hands to the water behind the boat and its surface instantly froze over. Without hesitation, he jumped onto the ice, creating a pair of skates around his feet to facilitate movement. Lucy shouted after him but he ignored her. He cared about nothing but getting to the Tower and stopping Jellal.

There was another blur of movement within the boat, and Simon was running after Gray. Unlike the ice mage, he had no easy way of traversing the slippery surface, and was somehow staying on his feet through sheer strength of will. He could not stand by and do nothing while the man who had spent eight years deceiving them attempted to murder his beloved Erza.

Lucy watched the two of them go, frozen in indecision. If Jellal was lying, then they would all die when Etherion hit, but she didn't think that he was. He wouldn't gain anything from trying to deceive them now. Yet she too had seen the look in Jellal's eyes, and she didn't think he would hesitate to kill Erza either, if he really believed that she posed a threat to them all. The thought of Erza dying made her cold inside – but then again, she had seen the outcome of the fight between Natsu, Happy and Erza, and it worried her. A shiver ran through her as she recalled what Gray had told her earlier. What if the Erza she wanted to protect no longer existed?

Even so, she didn't want to wait outside while the others were making the decisions. Just as she had made up her mind to chase after Gray and Simon, however, she heard someone shout her name over the rising wind: "Lucy!"

That was not a voice she had been expecting, but it was unmistakeably familiar. "…Levy?"

* * *

With a final burst of speed, Jellal shot through the window and into the room at the top of the Tower. He broke his fall with a roll as Meteor ended and sprung immediately to his feet. Magic flickered to life at his palms, ready for a confrontation.

It was as bad as he had feared. Erza and Natsu knelt on the ground facing each other. Natsu's hand was wrapped around Erza's arm, but his eyes were closed. From that distance, he might not have been breathing. His back was pressed up to the crystal in the centre of the room. The hilt of a blade protruded from his chest.

Natsu had stayed behind to try and talk some sense into Erza, and this was what he had got in return. Jellal doubted he was dead - there would be no sense in her killing him outright before Etherion fired - but it was only a matter of time with a wound like that. That was just how dangerous she was right now. That was why she needed to be stopped, whatever the cost.

Lightning flashed; the thunder's reverberations caused the whole Tower to shake. Erza glanced lazily at Jellal, as if alerted to his arrival for the first time. There was no humanity in those eyes. Had he been like that too? It didn't matter now. He couldn't stand to see Erza like that, and that was the only important thing.

"I will put an end to this, Erza," he vowed.

She smiled at him. It wasn't her real smile. He remembered how she had always smiled in his memories, and there had never been any cruelty in it before. That look broke his heart and strengthened his resolve all at once. And then she jumped to her feet and ran.

Her move took him by surprise. With that wound to her leg, she shouldn't have been able to stand, let alone run. It wasn't her own magic granting her that regenerative power. It only confirmed what he already knew: immobilizing her, or even trying to knock her out, wouldn't be enough to stop her when she had that sort of power at her disposal. Cursing his indecision, he took off after her.

Near its summit, the Tower was thin and almost fragile. Only much further down did the structure begin to broaden, allowing for the construction of proper rooms. Below the chamber at the top was a single spiral staircase which ran around the inside of the wall. The interior was completely hollow; one wrong step along that staircase would send anyone plummeting into the darkness below.

This was no time to be conserving power. Jellal hurled himself towards that dark pit, knowing Erza had done the same. He drew upon his magic again, but rather than using it to slow and control his descent, he only increased his speed. In the light radiating from his body, he could see movement ahead of him as Erza, having Requipped a winged armour, tried to put some distance between them. He knew what she was thinking. All she had to do was buy time until Etherion fired. He had to catch her before then.

Jellal closed his eyes, trying to forget that it was Erza in front of him. As long as he pictured her as an enemy, the living embodiment of the darkness that had dominated his life, and not as the girl he still loved, he would be able to go through with this.

A globe of white magic appeared around his right hand. She dodged his first two blasts with ease. Jellal grimaced. He knew he was out of practice with his own magic, having been able to rely on the dark powers that the ghost of Zeref had granted to him for too long. Although controlling Meteor came as naturally as breathing to him, aiming other attacks whilst moving at this speed was another matter entirely. And while stronger spells would take care of that for him, he was exhausted enough as it was. Concern that he might not be able to maintain Meteor while summoning more complicated magic into existence stayed his hand.

It was more than just that, though, wasn't it? He had been fully prepared to kill her earlier – he had only failed because Natsu had stopped him. Why was his resolve weakening now?

Sure, for the first time ever he had begun to think about how much he wanted to be free of the shadow of the Tower of Heaven and live a normal life with Erza – but so what? It didn't change how unattainable that future was. There was no way back for either of them. He had to kill Erza and bury any hopes he had of redemption along with her, so that at least the rest of the world would have a future.

Steeling his heart one last time, Jellal prepared to negate Meteor and put all of his power into one final attack to destroy them both – but he had spent too long deliberating. The next thing he knew, the floor of the grand hall was looming up in front of him. He had fallen too far. Panicking, he poured his magic into producing the acceleration that would change Meteor's direction, and hit the floor still at a tremendous speed.

The crash landing hurt, but pain was nothing right now. At least he was conscious, and better yet, he could still stand. As long as he could still use magic, the state of his physical body was irrelevant. He saw Erza disappear through a door and set off in pursuit.

He had a good idea of where he was. Through the door was an ordinary staircase, and at the bottom was a small corridor which branched off in both directions. Opposite the foot of the staircase was another door, which he saw Erza dash through. She wouldn't be able to outrun him here. He was the one who had built this Tower, after all. Already he was formulating a plan to take the corridor to his right and cut her off when a wall of ice appeared from nowhere at the foot of the stairs, stopping him in his tracks.

Jellal pressed his hands against the ice to prevent himself from running into it face-first, and immediately regretted it. It was several inches thick and packed with dense magic; the angry cold froze his fingertips to its surface in an instant and he had to rip his hands away with a curse. The ice user – that was the one he had left behind on the boat, who had attacked him from behind at the top of the Tower. He didn't even know his name.

The ice ringed the base of the stairs, sealing all the exits. Its caster was waiting for him in the shadows. "Get out of the way," Jellal told him quietly.

A newfound hatred burned in Gray's eyes. "No."

Power surged at Jellal's fingertips. Whether legally-obtained or otherwise, he deserved the title of Wizard Saint; not only was his magic formidable, but it was also regenerating at an incredible rate. Still, he hesitated to call on it. "I don't want to fight you. You're not my enemy."

"I beg to differ," came Gray's cool retort. "You're trying to hurt my friend, and that definitely makes you my enemy."

"Do you think I _want_ to do this?" All the shock and frustration of the past hour came out in a rush. "I don't have a choice! Etherion is going to fire any moment now and if she is still alive when it does then Zeref will be reborn and the entire world will be forfeit! I can't let it come to that! If she knew what the ghost of Zeref was making her do, Erza would never forgive herself! That's why- that's why I have to-"

"You can talk as high and mighty as you like – wasn't this all your plan in the first place?"

"Yes. I started all this. That's why I have to be the one to end it."

"I can't stand people who talk like that. Who the hell do you think you are? You betrayed Erza, and now you have the nerve to act like you're the one who understands her?"

"I hadn't seen Erza in eight years before today. Even so, after all this time, I still love her." That was the first time he had said it out loud, as though he hadn't realized the price of those feelings until that moment. "That is why I have to stop her from making this mistake."

"You've got it completely backwards." Gray gave a dark laugh. "Erza is my friend. That's why I'm going to _save_ her. Just because you're suicidal, it doesn't give you the right to force that upon anyone else. I'm taking back the Erza I know and we're returning to Fairy Tail with everyone. If you truly loved her, you'd want to do the same."

"What I want is irrelevant. Unlike you, I understand that there is no time for sentimentality. I'm putting an end to this now. Remove your barrier."

"Make me."

Jellal's eyes glittered, as cold as the ice sealing them in. All mildness was gone from his demeanour. He had pushed compassion away for eight long years, he could do it again now. "As you wish."

* * *

"Levy!" Lucy repeated in disbelief. Approaching them was a much larger boat, carving through the tumultuous waters with ease. Her friend stood up at the front, waving at her enthusiastically.

The fact that Levy was at the Tower of Heaven wasn't even the strangest thing – she seemed to have assembled the most unusual team to accompany her. Freed was driving the boat; from what Lucy had heard around the guild, this was probably the first time he had ever been out on a mission without the rest of the Raijinshuu. Even more oddly, Lucy was certain that was Gajeel she could see hanging lamely over the side of the boat. The Dragon Slayer's uncomfortable posture reminded her strongly of travelling with Natsu, and, as crazy as it was with everything that was going on, she found herself fighting to suppress a laugh.

"What on earth are you doing here?" she asked, baffled.

"I have literally no idea…" Gajeel grumbled.

Levy patted him amicably on the back. "You were supposed to be our backup," she pointed out. "I would never have guessed you were as bad with transportation as Natsu is."

"Maybe it's a Dragon Slayer thing," Lucy suggested.

"If you ever mention this to anyone, I'll kill you." The severity of Gajeel's threat was deadened somewhat, however, as he immediately threw up over the side of the boat and collapsed with a wounded groan.

"Levy, what-?" Lucy began again.

Levy just shook her head. "It's dangerous here. The Tower seems to be collapsing. Climb over to our ship, and then we'll talk."

After a few minutes of struggling, Lucy managed to get the semi-conscious Happy and Erza's old friends into the new boat. It was a smart decision – only a few minutes later, a chunk of falling Tower punched a hole straight through the faithful old fishing boat's hull. Lucy winced, and it wasn't even because of their narrow escape. They only had that boat on a day's loan from the port town. Paying for its replacement was yet another accidental damage bill to be charged to Fairy Tail.

Abandoning it had been the right decision, though. Not only was Levy's boat much more spacious, but it was also a lot safer. A line of purple runes ran around the edge of the vehicle. Although Lucy didn't have a clue what they said, their effect could be inferred from the falling rocks which seemed to be going out of their way to avoid the boat.

With that immediate problem solved, they could turn their attention to other matters. Levy explained, "We're looking for Erza. Is she here?"

"Well…" With the help of Erza's old friends, Lucy explained to the newcomers everything she knew about the situation: Jellal and Erza's shared past; the true purpose of the Tower of Heaven; the imminent Etherion strike; and the part that she still didn't fully understand, about Erza attempting to kill her friends and Jellal siding with them in order to stop her from unleashing total devastation using the Tower.

"That's bad," Levy said, in possible competition for the understatement of the century, but it was unlike her to be too pessimistic about anything. "We need to get to her right away. Freed?" She glanced at the older mage, who nodded once and began steering them in the direction of the Tower. Gajeel muttered something rude and curled up in a ball at the bottom of the boat. Erza's old friends seemed alarmed that they were heading back towards the Tower, but Levy just gave them a reassuring smile. "You lot and Lucy can take the boat and leave once we've entered the Tower, if you'd like. We just need to find Erza."

"We're not going anywhere," Lucy retorted. "Why are you so determined to get to Erza, anyway?"

"Freed and I have been working on Changeling," the letter mage explained, shouting to make herself heard above the roar of thunder. "We were trying to decode exactly how it works. The spell itself doesn't contain that much information, which is where I was going wrong the first time round. The clue to understanding its meaning is to put it in context with how magic was being used at the time it was created."

Lucy thought back to the day she had spent in the library with her friend, back when all of this had started. "I thought you said that there were hardly any references to it in the old literature you were familiar with."

Blushing slightly, Levy said, "I was looking in the wrong place. I misunderstood the sentence structure and thus had the time period out by a century or two, but Freed spotted it straight away. Anyway, putting aside the details-" she hastily added, upon noticing the look on Lucy's face "-basically, Changeling isn't a curse. It's not evil in any way, it has just been interpreted that way in later ages, contributing to the creepy way in which it is portrayed in modern records."

"If it's not a curse, then what is it?" As someone who had experienced its effects first-hand, she would have been the first to label being turned into Gray as creepy.

"It's… It's difficult to explain. We don't really have a word for it, because we don't use magic that way any more."

"I suppose the best way you could describe it is coming-of-age magic," Freed mused. "Or perhaps self-discovery magic."

"Eh?"

Levy laughed. "Essentially, it was stumbled upon by a certain tribe, and it came into common usage amongst them as a rite of passage. Everyone has problems – secrets that weigh down on them, memories they can't escape from, or sins they carry with them in life. In the view of this tribe, these things held us back; stopped us from becoming the person that the gods or fate or whatever they believed in had intended for them to be. Changeling was designed to force each person to confront their burdens and to overcome them."

"…I'm really not seeing it," came Lucy's unimpressed response. "How does swapping people's bodies at random achieve any of that?"

"It forces a person to confront their weakness," Freed answered calmly. "It strips away everything – your magic, your body, your dignity. Everything is laid bare. You are utterly dependent on another person to maintain your reputation, and to keep your life and relationships and dreams alive. Besides, it doesn't swap at random. It swaps with the person it deems most able to help you. And the spell only becomes undone when you have faced whatever was holding you back and become a stronger person for it."

"Is that even possible?"

Levy shrugged. "There's every chance that it's all coincidence and the spell just wears off after a random interval, and the ancient tribe just interpreted it favourably every time. But don't you think it fits? Correct me if I'm wrong because I only heard this second-hand, but didn't you and Gray switch back after you confessed to him that you were worried that you didn't belong in Fairy Tail, and that we would throw you out if we discovered you came from a rich family? And Gray was all upset about something too, wasn't he? I heard he ran away from the guild and only came back to save everyone once Natsu had knocked some sense into him."

"I suppose the timing does work. It would explain Natsu and Loke switching back in the Spirit World too. I don't know about Cana and Elfman…"

"Pretty much the same. I was there," Freed explained. "It seemed far too convenient for them to change back exactly when they needed to. The timing was perfect – _too_ perfect. That's what got me thinking that we were approaching this from the wrong angle. I wasn't directly affected by Changeling myself, so that likely made it easier for me to perceive it as something designed to be beneficial than it would have been for Levy."

"But why would such magic even exist?"

He shrugged. "Who can say? It was a long time ago. Even to Zeref, this would have been ancient; incomprehensible. What we consider to be possible with magic is simply the wrong restriction to place on something so old. Magic was rare back then, and it belonged to a community, not an individual. Perhaps it was a form of immersion therapy in a culture that thought very differently to ours. We did find records of it being used as a coming-of-age or graduation rite before a teenager could enter adulthood in one particular tribe, especially for those in contention for becoming the next chief. It was thought to make people better human beings – stronger, yes, but most importantly, more empathetic."

"The reason why the records are so conflicted is because only a temporary variant of the spell was ever written down, just in case it was activated by accident. The spell on the request was the version designed to wear off after thirty minutes, just as the former Master thought it would. However, uh, I…" Levy gave an apologetic grin. "Well, when I thought I was decoding the way to reverse the spell, I was actually unlocking its full and very permanent version…"

"But you can reverse it now, right?" Lucy pressed.

To her dismay, Levy shook her head. "There _is_ no way of reversing it. It would defeat the point of the whole spell if you could cheat like that. Well, it's possible that someone with a better knowledge of magic than the two of us would eventually be able to figure out a way, like the former Master perhaps. But we don't have time for that. What we need to do is find Erza, talk to her, and get her to face whatever it is that has been causing her to act as she has. She's been running away from everything, and if she keeps doing that, she'll be stuck forever. I'm sure that she'll pull through, though, if we all help her."

"That might be easier said than done," Lucy pointed out. "She's… not the Erza we know any more. Something terrible has taken control of her. Even if you can make her listen, you might not be able to get through to her." She cast a glance at Happy, who was awake, but heavily subdued in manner. "She might even try to hurt you…"

"That's all the more reason why we need to get to her," Levy reasoned. "We're pretty sure that undoing Changeling will banish any dark influence that might be controlling her."

Freed clarified, "It is extremely powerful magic. When it acts to carry out its purpose, it supersedes everything else – injuries, lack of magic power, external magic; everything afflicting those it affects. It was able to undo an out of control Take Over, which is by all accounts an impossible feat."

"Then we can save her." For the first time in a while, Lucy felt a genuine smile stretch across her face. Exultant, she repeated, "We can save Erza!"

The boat gently brushed up against the side of the island. Immediately, Levy sprung to her feet. "Let's get to her before Etherion fires!"

"There is one other thing," Lucy warned abruptly. "There are others after Erza – Jellal, Simon, even Gray. They don't know that Erza can be saved. You have to make sure that you get to her first…"

"We'll keep an eye out for them." Levy jumped out of the boat, quickly followed by Freed. Gajeel appeared completely unaware that the boat had come to a halt; Levy shouted something at him and he somehow managed to claw his way up the side and over onto solid ground.

Lucy made up her mind. "I'll head out too. Natsu's still in there somewhere, and with everything that's going on, I can't just leave him behind."

"I'll come with you, Lucy," Happy offered. Lucy opened her mouth to tell him that he was absolutely not going anywhere in that injured state, but after one look at the determination in his eyes, she relented. It was their teammate out there, after all.

Gathering up her courage, Millianna placed her hand on the lacrima controlling the boat and held it steady as the Fairy Tail mages departed. "I'll keep the boat here for as long as I dare," she told them bravely. "But if Etherion activates, we're going to have to run for it."

Lucy nodded. "Thank you."

She turned to Levy as the ground gave a violent tremor. Despite the threat of Etherion, and even the possibility of Zeref's resurrection, no one in Levy's team would consider abandoning the mission they had come here to carry out. They were Fairy Tail mages, after all. There was no such thing as giving up hope when their comrades were in trouble. There was no time for long speeches, so she just said, "Look after yourself, Levy."

With a grin, Levy said, "That's what I brought these guys along for."

Gajeel glared at her. He had recovered some of his old ferocity now that he was back on solid ground, and he managed to growl, "If I'd known there was going to be a boat involved, I'd have told you to take care of yourself."

As Levy just laughed, Lucy found herself smiling once again. Another thunderclap, deafeningly close, reminded them that they did not have the time for this chat. Any moment could be their last. Fully aware that this could be the final time they saw each other alive, Lucy raised a hand to her friend and began running for the top of the Tower.

* * *

Gray's sword of ice shattered into fragments against Jellal's raised arm. Eyes widening, he tried to kick the other in the stomach, but Jellal was faster, driving his fist into the side of Gray's head and flinging him away. Far from giving up, the Fairy Tail mage drew strength from the ice wall as he launched himself back from it with a kick. He created a hammer as large as he was and put all his momentum into the blow, forcing Jellal to shatter it with a burst of magic rather than take the hit.

Jellal followed it up with a more powerful beam of light, this one aimed over his opponent's shoulder. Unfortunately, Gray was well aware of his intentions. He generated an ice shield to block it anyway – to stop it from damaging the ice wall behind him.

As the steam from his vaporized shield vanished, both combatants took a step back, breathing heavily. Neither of them were under any illusions as to the state of the fight. Had they been fighting under normal circumstances, it would have been an entirely different matter, but Jellal was already exhausted. As well as trying to conserve his remaining strength, every time he overreached himself the wound in his side screamed in protest and he had to fight to stay conscious. He had plenty of spells that would have ended this fight in one blow, but he couldn't risk any of them right now in case he had to fight Erza too.

Gray was well aware of this. He was lasting as long as he had solely because he knew he had the most magic power left, and was planning his strategy around forcing his opponent to waste as much magic as possible. He was employing attacks the other couldn't easily dodge and he blocked everything Jellal sent towards the wall. Yet he too had an enormous disadvantage – namely, the massive ice wall blocking the route Jellal was desperate to take. Keeping that frozen was consuming most of his power. It also didn't help that having to focus on it meant that everything he made to send at Jellal was a secondary creation, and hence didn't have as much force or endurance as he would have liked.

His opponent was annoyingly good at spotting his weaker creations, breaking them apart with his fists or even taking the hit rather than spending his remaining magic to destroy them. Jellal had seen through all his attempts to use this to deceive him as well. Had Gray have known his opponent was a Wizard Saint, with an exceptional ability to understand and sense magic, he probably wouldn't have bothered trying. Like Jellal, he too could have ended the battle in a single blow – all he had to do was collapse the ice wall, draw its power back into himself, and pour it all into one final attack. But it was just too much of a risk. If he missed, or if the other had something hidden up his sleeve, then the barrier would be down and Jellal would be free to pursue Erza.

Both were in a very similar position – they could only use a fraction of their true strengths, yet neither could afford to give up. And like this, they weren't getting anywhere. With each passing moment, the Etherion strike became more and more likely; the end of the world approached.

Jellal clenched his fist. Not once in his life had his magic power failed him. Was all that just so it could let him down now, the first time he had ever fought for someone other than himself? No. He wouldn't let that happen. As long as he had the conviction, he would draw the power to see it through from _somewhere_.

But he knew that his opponent felt exactly the same way. Resolve alone would not decide victory for either of them. Gray's ignorance of the true danger only strengthened his conviction to stand against Jellal. He would not remove the ice wall for anything... but perhaps understanding what was driving him to do so was the key to breaking the stalemate, rather than sheer power.

As a shower of ice needles raced towards him, forcing Jellal to break off his physical assault, there was a part of him analysing the situation with the dispassion of a tactician. The abilities that had allowed him to manipulate and deceive the Council remained with him, even if he had rejected that life. He understood that the only thing more important to the ice mage than his wall was his own life, for if the wall fell but he still lived, he may yet have a chance of stopping Jellal. If he died, however, he would lose the wall along with any hope of reaching Erza. So, in order to win without having to fight to the death, all he needed to do was to put Gray in a position where he had to choose between the wall and his life.

One final strike. One last gamble. Erza's future, and the fate of the world, all on this one last move.

Jellal let the rain of needles push him back, feigning weakness. As he guessed, his desperate opponent attempted to capitalize on the momentary opening by means of an enormous blade of ice. Suppressing his screaming instincts, he let Gray strike him; did not resist as the blow hurled him up towards the wall. Pain meant nothing as long as he was conscious.

Before Gray realized what was happening, Jellal's flight was completely under control. His feet found purchase on the ceiling and he kicked off again with as much force as he could muster, as Meteor's power exploded one final time through his limbs. A small shockwave pulsed through the air as he dived towards his opponent. Still overbalanced from his sword's strike, Gray didn't stand a chance of getting out of the way. Jellal barrelled into him and then they were both shooting forwards at breakneck speed.

With only a split-second in which to think, Gray panicked. He relinquished control of the ice wall and it vanished just a fraction of a second before they shot through the space where it had been. That had been Jellal's gamble; a collision with a wall packed full of magic power at that speed would probably have killed them both. The wooden door behind it, however, was another matter entirely. They smashed straight through that one without losing any momentum at all and launched into the room beyond. They hit the ground and slid down the long, thin walkway in its centre, Jellal on top, finally coming to a stop in the centre of the room.

For a moment Jellal could do nothing but lie there, breathing heavily in and out. He could scarcely believe he was still alive, let alone conscious. He rolled off Gray and tried to stand, only to fall immediately to his knees. Not prepared to give up after everything he had been through, he tried again, and this time managed to stagger to his feet.

Gray was definitely unconscious. Jellal noticed with some surprise that a thick layer of ice coated the other's back, rapidly melting in the storm's unnatural heat. Whether it had been intentional or just a subconscious reflex, that rapid Ice Make was the only reason why the friction burns hadn't torn the other's back open. Impressive, though it hadn't changed the outcome of the fight. It was Jellal's victory, and there, waiting for him, almost expectantly, was Erza.

He knew where they were without having to look. He would never have used overwhelming momentum as his weapon of choice if he hadn't known the room beyond contained ample room for deceleration. This hall wasn't one he had designed himself – it had already existed when he had come into possession of the Tower; the product of one of its previous owners' twisted minds. He had never quite been sure of its purpose.

A single long wooden walkway, only a few paces wide, ran from the door they had entered through to the only other exit, directly opposite it on the far side of the hall. Red temple arches were placed at regular intervals along it. Apart from the slightly raised walkway, the floor was covered with water, giving the impression of a bridge over a vast lake. How deep the water was, Jellal had no idea. Normally its surface would have been perfectly still, but in the unrest that preceded the storm, an unearthly wind moulded its glass-like sheen into rippling waves, concealing what lay beneath.

The lake ended only at the distant walls of the room – walls which were covered in ancient symbols even he had never understood. Those blasphemous curses shone with a faint light, the only illumination in the hall. This place was mysterious, illogical, and ancient. It was, Jellal supposed, not too bad a place to die.

For Erza was there, stood only a few paces away from him, watching him solemnly. She might have been the Erza he once knew, and he almost hesitated. But there was nothing pleasant in her smile; nothing welcoming in her eyes.

"Erza," he begged, one last chance. "Please. You don't have to do this. You can stop it right now. No one will blame you. We can go back together-"

"Go back to how I used to be? Back to being weak and defenceless, always running from the past? I can't imagine anything worse! I'll end this now, and move on alone." There was a flash of light and a sword appeared in her hand.

"You're not even _trying_ to listen to me!" he yelled. It was no use. The Erza he knew was gone. He raised his arms once more above his head. This time – _this_ time – he would pull it off. He wouldn't hesitate. He wouldn't stop for anyone. " _Altairis!_ "

Erza gave him a critical look. "You don't have enough power left for that. It'll kill you."

"Yes. You and me both. We'll die together. This should never have started, so I'm going to make sure it ends."

One look in his eyes left Erza with no doubt that he meant it. Once his magic power ran out, he would make up the deficit with his own life – and there was no way she would survive it. Not unless she got to him first, that was. Raising her blade in both hands, she started forward as the inky blackness of deep space gathered between Jellal's palms.

"Jellal! Erza! Stop, please!" Yelling out his desperate plea, Simon threw himself between the two of them.

Neither of them were going to stop. Over the big man's shoulder, Jellal and Erza locked eyes. He couldn't pass up another chance to finish this, just because a man he had used as a tool for the past eight years got in the way. Simon meant nothing to him.

But he knew with chilling certainty that Erza felt exactly the same way. As she was right now, she would stab her enemy through the body of her former friend if it would put an end to the one person who posed a threat to her. And that was why he _had_ to make Simon's life mean something to him – because he had to reject that darkness ensnaring Erza with everything that he had.

So, once again, with an inward scream of frustration, he had to let the magic dissolve from between his hands. Seeing the threat vanish, Erza checked her swing; the two combatants came to a halt an inch away from Simon's outstretched arms.

"Get out of the way," Jellal told him.

Simon just shook his head. "Let me talk to Erza."

It wasn't a request. He stood in the centre of the walkway, practically filling it; Jellal could hardly strike Erza around him, especially with a spell that would undoubtedly rage out of control when he died. He bit back his impatience and let Simon talk.

"Erza, listen to me. I know you can hear me."

"Stand aside, Simon," she told him firmly. She didn't lower her sword.

"I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to the other Erza – the _real_ one."

"Shut up and stand aside. I won't warn you again."

"No. I won't stand aside. Because I believe in you, Erza. I always have." Was it just his imagination, or did she hesitate at his words? "I knew that you hadn't abandoned us all those years ago. And I know that you wouldn't abandon us now. Wherever you are, you're still fighting, trying to break free of this nightmare, I know you are."

A tremor ran through her sword arm. A sign. "Shut up-!"

"Come back to us, Erza. This isn't you. You're a good person, a kind person. Just like you always were."

"Simon, get out of the way!" Jellal repeated, as power began to build up in his body again.

It was one final order, and Simon ignored it, just as he had ignored everything else Jellal had told him all these years; because Simon truly meant every word that he said: "I believe in you, Erza."

"SHUT UP!" she screamed, one final time. Then her fury became will and her will became action and that action was a blur of motion, first in her foot and then in her sword-hand, and there was no time to dodge or shout or even do anything but stare in horror because before any of them could react, the blade was buried up to its hilt in Simon's chest.

He glanced down at the weapon in puzzlement. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. And then he fell to the ground and was still.

"Simon, no!" Jellal exclaimed, his eyes wide with disbelief. He knelt down beside the other, checking for signs of life, finding none, and looking again anyway. It was an illusion, it _had_ to be, there was no other explanation, because Erza, Erza Scarlet, _his_ Erza, would never ever _ever_ do something like that-

"It's alright, Jellal." Her voice drifted down to him, as if from a great distance. "You can join him soon. I will erase all living memories of the Tower when I destroy everything within it. No one will live to tell what happened here. Once Zeref is reborn, it will be as if none of this ever happened."

She turned her head towards the sky. "It has already begun. Five minutes until Etherion hits. I'll be at the top of the Tower… if you want to come and say goodbye."

Jellal hardly noticed as she walked away. He stared numbly at Simon's corpse without seeing it. This was wrong. It was so, so wrong. Every fibre of his being screamed in rejection of this reality. Was this living hell the reason he had come out of the dark? Was this all that awaited him: this horror; this perverse _wrongness?_ Was this what they called life?

These feelings – betrayal, suffering, pain on behalf of another – tore his heart into shreds. It would have been better if he had never renounced the darkness. Maybe it wasn't too late. Wouldn't it be better if he could shut those emotions out, just as he had done for eight years, and stand side by side with Erza as the world ended? He didn't _have_ to feel like this-

"Hey, you."

Jellal glanced up with a start. He had completely forgotten about Gray, and now the ice mage stood over him, glancing down at him impassively. To his surprise, however, rather than attacking him, Gray simply held out his hand. "Can you stand?"

He took the proffered hand and found with some astonishment that he could.

Quietly, Gray continued, "I saw everything. We can't save her, can we? The least we can do now is make sure that the rest of the world doesn't follow her. We have to stop her. No matter the cost, we _have_ to."

Jellal murmured a wordless agreement.

"Come on," Gray said. "We'll do it together."

"Yeah," agreed Jellal. And then: "I don't even know your name."

"Gray Fullbuster, mage of Fa-" But he couldn't say it. Not with what he was about to do. It didn't matter that it was for the sake of the world; he knew he would never be forgiven.

He looked at Jellal, and knew that that man, a complete stranger, understood him perfectly. Jellal didn't intend to survive this battle. Gray wondered if that might be best for him too. Even if they saved the world, he would never be able to face his friends again, let alone return to the guild. He'd have to go somewhere far away. Maybe he'd even leave Fiore. No amount of distance would ever erase his sins, but he could pretend, couldn't he?

Erza couldn't be saved, and neither could they, but there was still a chance that those they were trying to protect might be able to go on living. Wasn't that what Erza would have wanted them to do?

There was nothing else to be said, so they went without a word to meet her at the top of the Tower.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Well that was horrendous to write. On the plus side, after a long run of chapters that haven't been much fun at all, next up is one of my absolute favourites. With the factions established and everything more or less set up for the final battle, the story can enter its final phase at last._

 _Re: finally being able to explain Changeling, well, that was one scene that I had actually been looking forward to in this chapter. I always wanted there to be some sort of reason why characters always switch back at dramatic and emotional points, rather than just "it would be exciting for the story". It also provides a concrete reason as to why certain pairs have switched back and others haven't. Erza, for example, probably can't change back while she remains envious towards others and obsessed with her own weakness, but while other characters became more accepting of their situation as time went on, she has only grown increasingly resentful._

 _And that last piece of explanation closes all the circles I think. All that remains now is to see if I can salvage enough of the plot to somehow bring this back in line with canon by the end of the story. The race is on... ~CS_


	23. By the Order of the Magic Council

_**A/N:** Chapter Twenty-Three. You know that thing where you write without access to the source material and check it later and it turns out that the whole Etherion thing in your head looks really very different to how it's supposed to be in canon? No? Just me? Ah well. It works much better for my purposes this way. ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Three: By the Order of the Magic Council**

The Rune Knights took Mira away.

That had been the intention, anyway; as it happened, they hadn't quite got that far. As the Council members had filed out of the courtroom to make preparations for firing Etherion, one of the Knights had clamped a pair of handcuffs to her wrists. They were uncomfortable, chunky things, made of an unusually dense metallic alloy with the rare property of being able to suppress her magic power. Clearly they hadn't believed her when she had told them that Changeling had stripped her of any magic she still possessed – which was none anyway, as she hadn't been able to use magic since Lisanna had died. She was certain that she could pull her tiny wrists out of the handcuffs with ease if it came to that – they had, after all, been designed for use on a man of average height – but their purpose was hardly to bind her anyway. She was in the heart of the Magic Council's Headquarters, with Rune Knights posted outside every door. What would be the point in trying to run?

Technically, they had yet to charge her with any crime; they merely wanted her out of the way so that they could use Etherion without further protests. She had objected loudly. She had to see this through to the end. She had to keep praying for a miracle to happen.

The Knights supposed to be escorting her to the cells weren't too difficult to convince. They didn't want to miss the once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the Council's doomsday device in operation either, and though Mira found their fascination with the weapon that was about to murder her friends utterly repulsive, at least it was something to work with. It helped that the Knights hadn't been privy to her conversation with the Council, and were still under the impression that she was the respected and feared Wizard Saint Makarov. When she had stormed off after the Council members, they had followed her, but they hadn't tried to stop her.

And so she found herself standing at the edge of the grand room housing Etherion. She was undoubtedly the only person not working for the Magic Council who had ever seen it, though this was hardly the time or the place to feel privileged. The room itself was large and round. Grand pillars, carved with all manner of mythical creatures, supported the vaulted roof; it added a solemn, old-fashioned touch to this frontier of magical technology. The centre of the room sported a circular hole in the floor. A golden railing surrounded it, surely only because health and safety laws enforced it – because no one in their right mind would have needed a barrier to dissuade them from approaching it.

Around the circumference of the hole stood four enormous pillars shaped like angels in prayer, one corresponding to each point of the compass. Nestled within each one was a lacrima. These weren't the cheap defence lacrima that could be bought for a handful of jewels in the marketplace, nor even the costly, but well-known, rare devices like those containing Organic Link Magic. This was top-secret government technology; the most powerful crystal that had ever been developed. Although tiny, each one contained enough power to raze a city to the ground. The density of magic would have been impressive even if the devices were dormant – and right now they were active, and _eager_.

The surface of each lacrima crackled with power, as if they might explode at any moment. Fire, frost, lightning, even pure white energy – magic took on all forms in a vain attempt to escape from its prison. Raw energy surged between the four lacrima, churning up the air. Above the hole, an inverted pyramid hung down from the ceiling on four chains. It too was made of some form of translucent crystal, revealing the five magic seals frozen in place inside it. Attached to its apex was another lacrima. This, Mira knew instinctively, was the key. That tiny, inconspicuous crystal was the core of the weapon that would gather the energy from the supply lacrima and focus it onto the Tower of Heaven.

The centre of the ceiling directly above the pyramid had been drawn back by a hidden mechanical device, revealing the grey skies beyond. The pyramid would shoot the energy up into the sky, where more magic seals waited to reflect and guide it down to its target. Likewise, the metal plates usually covering the hole in the floor beneath had been pulled away. In its place was a golden magic seal. As it slowly rotated, Mira caught a glimpse of what was beneath it – a vast underground room filled with machinery and lacrima, all part of the enormous engine which gave life to this terrible weapon.

Mira wanted to sink to her knees beneath the weight of the power in the room. This was coming from someone who had possessed no small amount of magic power herself, and still regularly spent time around monsters like Laxus and Gildarts. No one person could possibly stand against it. It was simultaneously awful and incredible, and the fact that anyone would consider turning it upon another human being was unforgiveable.

In front of the golden railing was a single screen. An engineer stood tapping away at it, finalizing the calculations, while Lahar hovered impatiently at his shoulder. Behind him, all the councillors had gathered. After what seemed like an age, the engineer stepped aside with a nod; Lahar gave a visible sigh of relief.

To the councillors, he said, "We're locked on to the Tower of Heaven, and all operations are within the expected parameters. All we need now are your activation codes."

"I'll begin," Org responded gruffly.

Mira watched with a detached fascination as he stepped up to the screen and placed a hand on each of the small lacrima on either side of it. After a moment, he spoke a string of words which sounded like utter nonsense to Mira, but were probably some sort of code. As a green light appeared on the screen, he stepped away and another Council member took his place, repeating the procedure. That made sense. The lacrima checked their magical signature, and combined with the personal passwords, it was a secure system to prevent the weapon from being armed without permission.

Since a majority vote had been needed to authorize Etherion's launch, she guessed that five activation codes were needed to prime the weapon. A glance up at the crystal pyramid revealed that one of the five polychromatic magic seals trapped within it had begun to rotate; as the second councillor stepped away from the screen, the second seal started turning in the opposite direction.

That meant three more were needed before Etherion murdered her friends, and she had still not done anything. But what could she do? The vote had been legitimately taken, and it had passed with an overwhelming majority. They had refused to listen to her pleas. They hadn't been moved by her arguments. If only she had magic, she could-

Could _what_ , exactly? Fight off all the councillors so that they physically couldn't activate Etherion, when they counted at least one Wizard Saint amongst their number and had a small army of Rune Knights in the building to back them up? Impossible. Not even magic could save her here.

Mira watched as Org glanced to Siegrain. Going by his look of surprise when the latter shook his head, Org was clearly expecting the man who proposed activating Etherion to step forwards to fire it. Was there some reason why he wouldn't touch the lacrima? Not that it mattered. The vote had passed eight to one; there was no shortage of people willing to step up. Ultear placed her hands on the lacrima.

Mira knew that no one was coming to help her. That wasn't how the world worked. This was her fight, and hers alone. If she couldn't do anything, then no one would. Natsu and his team were giving their all in the Tower of Heaven right now; they were counting on her to do the same here, and she had let them down. She hadn't been able to protect the former Master, or Fairy Tail, or her friends. She was a complete failure. She had nothing.

Ultear lifted the third seal and stepped away. The remaining councillors glanced at each other hesitantly. Were they having second thoughts, now that the time to actually use the weapon had come? Org could be heard loudly reminding them that the vote had already been taken; reluctantly, Michello stepped up to remove the fourth seal.

But Mira _did_ have something, didn't she? Fate had taken her magic; Changeling had stolen her body; and her rhetoric had been insufficient – but she was still here watching events unfold, and that meant that she still had something left to give: her life. If she was alive, then she had not yet done everything within her power. And an idea came to her – a wild, insane, suicidal idea, but an idea nonetheless.

Even as she recoiled in horror from the thought, it brought back memories of a scene from the previous day: Cana losing control of Beast Soul, and Elfman risking everything to bring her back to them. When she had been frozen in fear of the monster Cana had become, Elfman hadn't hesitated to put himself in the line of fire, and would have gladly sacrificed his life so that his friend could be saved. He was so much stronger than she was.

For so long now she had been convinced that the only way she could ever become strong again was by regaining her magic, and that without it, she was worthless. Except it hadn't been magic that Elfman had used to save Cana, but his own humanity. _You don't need magic to be strong_ – he himself had told her that. All that was needed was the courage to do the right thing. Elfman had had that courage. So had Lisanna. Now it was her turn.

She might have been a failure of a mage, and a failure of a politician, but she didn't have to be a failure of a human being.

Another councillor began the process to unlock the fifth and final seal on Etherion. Mira tensed. If her guess as to the workings of the weapon were correct, she wouldn't have much time to act – though if she was wrong, she wouldn't live long enough to realize her mistake. That thought was one small comfort.

The screen flashed green. The feeling of the magic in the air changed. Things undoubtedly started happening in the centre of the room, but Mira missed them all because at that moment she made her move.

She slipped her wrists out of the oversized handcuffs and dropped them onto the toes of one of the Rune Knights guarding her. As he let out a startled shout, she karate-chopped the other in the back of the knee and ran directly towards the centre of the room. They realized what she was doing a moment too late. Shouts of surprise filled the chamber, barely audible above Etherion's throbbing. A technician reached out to grab her as she passed, but she ducked under his arm and carried on.

The next thing she knew the golden railings around Etherion's core were directly in front of her – and then behind her, for she vaulted over them to land directly in the centre of the blazing magic seal on the floor.

The pain hit her like a brick wall. It came from everywhere at once, overloading her body with magic power until she thought she was going to explode. The heat was unbearable, burning her from the inside-out. Ferocious winds wrenched her in every direction at once as a thousand knives drove into her unprotected flesh. Lightning poured into her body; flames boiled the blood in her veins; intense cold stiffened her muscles and clenched its firm fist around her heart. She could see nothing but a blaze of colour.

Mira knew, with the lucidity of inevitability, that she had a few seconds at most before her heart gave out and she died.

She also knew that the fact that she was thinking at all meant that she wasn't dead _yet_.

So she raised her arms, turned towards where she believed the councillors were standing, and screamed at the top of her voice, "STOP!"

Everyone in the room was frozen in terror, unable to believe what they were seeing. Only Yajima managed to find his voice. "Abort it," he whispered, through numb lips. And then his voice became a scream of desperation: "For the love of God, abort it!"

By some miracle his cry seemed to break through the paralysis that gripped the room. Org turned to the screen, pushed the frozen engineer out of the way, and hit something on the panel with his fist. With a reluctant groan, the shining lacrima began to dim. The unearthly wind blowing up from the giant magic seal reduced to a breeze. The beam of raw magic power engulfing Mira vanished.

And somehow, unbelievably, as her senses began to return to normal, Mira realized that she was still alive.

By all rights, she shouldn't have been. She had gambled on Makarov's body being able to withstand that much magic power for those few vital seconds; an ordinary mage would have been erased instantly. But more than that, she had gambled on humanity. Etherion was a weapon, but it had been built by scientists and researchers; fellow human beings. There was no real reason for it to have an emergency abort function, but she had bet everything that the people who had constructed it had built one in just in case. There had been no guarantee that anyone in the room would have acted to abort the strike either. Yet even though they were her enemies, they were human too, weren't they?

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Org was trying to employ his old, commanding tone, but he couldn't hide the tremor in his voice. Half the members of the Council were visibly shaking; at least three of the technicians in the room had fainted.

Mira dragged her attention back to the people in front of her. This was far from over. Lightning still crackled around those lacrima; the five seals still rotated, unlocked, in the pyramid above her head. All it would take was for one person to hit the button, and Etherion would fire without hesitation. "I can't let you do this."

"You stand in the way of a lawfully-sanctioned action," Siegrain told her coldly. Unsurprisingly, her attempted suicide hadn't shaken him in the slightest. "Simply standing there makes you a traitor to the Council and an enemy of the state. The vote has been taken; Etherion must fire, no matter what."

Mira tried to sound braver than she felt. "If you want to fire Etherion, you'll have to do it through me."

Org told her, solemnly, "Then you will die."

"Go ahead! Kill me!" she yelled back. He flinched; she felt a rush of satisfaction. Her head span. Whether it was from the damage she had taken, or the ecstasy of being so close to death, she had no idea. She was terrified of what might happen. She was so scared she wanted to cry or collapse or run away. But she did none of those things. She shouted again, and her voice was somehow stronger than before. "What's wrong? You'll happily murder people hundreds of miles away, but you don't have the guts to do it to a person standing right in front of you?"

But the old councillor just shook his head. "It doesn't have to come to that. Knights, remove her!"

He gestured commandingly to the Rune Knights stationed around the room's perimeter. Not one of them moved. They refused to meet Org's eyes.

Mira understood. It had nothing to do with sympathy - they were simply terrified of going near Etherion. She couldn't blame them. It was ready to jump back to full power at any moment. The magic was still thick and hot in the air around her. Lightning jumped eagerly between the four main lacrima, with the occasional shiver of electricity breaking free and racing around the golden railing or shooting down one of the decorative pillars and into the earth. That was odd. None of Etherion's magic had been able to escape beyond the railings before.

"That's an order!" Org snapped. The Knights slowly began to obey his command. They approached the railing with trepidation, and only when they had delayed as long as possible did the first one dare to reach out and touch it – only to immediately withdraw his hand with a curse as the snap of a static shock filled the air.

But it wasn't enough to stop them. As the bravest of them vaulted the barrier and landed atop the magic seal where she was, Mira felt the last of her hopes fade. She couldn't fight them off as she was now. All they had to do was carry her away and Etherion would commence firing as if none of this had ever happened. It was over. She had wagered her life and won nothing more than an extra minute of time that would help no one.

There were at least three Knights stood on the seal with her now. The first reached out and grabbed her arm.

Immediately a ring of electricity exploded outwards from around her. Bolts of lightning caught all the Knights and hurled them back over the railings; they landed with smoking clothes and did not get back up.

"What the-?" Org exclaimed, his furious gaze demanding an explanation from Mira.

Mira, however, was smiling and laughing and crying all at the same time, because she would have known the feel of that magic anywhere. She didn't flinch as a pillar of lightning carved down through the ceiling to strike the ground next to her, and then it was no longer a bolt of energy but a man stood at her side.

Laxus growled, "How dare you lay a hand on a member of my guild?"

Org visibly paled. "That's- Laxus Dreyar-!"

Even those who hadn't recognized him on sight knew his name. The Rune Knights backed away; the members of the Magic Council seemed altogether lost for words.

Laxus paid them no heed. He glanced up at the inverted pyramid above them with interest, as if he had only just noticed where he had materialized. "What's this?" he asked of Mira.

"Etherion. They're about to fire it at the Tower of Heaven."

He frowned. "Natsu's team are in the Tower of Heaven."

"I know," was all she said, but her eyes seemed to add: _that's exactly why I'm stood here, blocking its activation with my life_.

"I see."

"This seems like a perfect opportunity," remarked Siegrain. On the surface he portrayed his usual calm control, but Mira thought she knew him better now. Laxus's arrival had got to him – or perhaps the entire turn of events had pushed the situation out of his control. If he really wanted Etherion to fire, it was his turn to act rashly. "We can erase that troublemaking guild Fairy Tail for good along with the Tower of Heaven."

Unlike Mira, Laxus didn't care to hear the Council's response. "So, this is Etherion, huh?" he asked of no one in particular, glancing around at the deadly lacrima.

"Indeed," said Siegrain icily. "And if you're still there when it activates, you will die instantly."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that," Laxus returned, just as easily. "From where I'm standing, it doesn't look all that tough. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that it seems really quite unstable."

The latent magic power he was emitting suddenly intensified. The air around them roiled and seethed like a furious ocean as the ambient magic from Etherion doubled with the addition of his power. Lightning began to build up around Laxus's body. Even Mira took a step away from him.

"What are you-?" Org began, but Laxus cut him off.

"The moment you fire Etherion, I'll hit that lacrima with everything I have. Its power will overload and the entire thing will explode right here."

The old councillor stared at him in sheer disbelief. "You're not serious!" When Laxus said nothing, he protested, "But an explosion like that would destroy everything! You'd wipe the entire Council Headquarters off the map! Everyone in this building – no, everyone in Era would die!"

"That's the idea, yes."

"But that's madness!"

"Oh? So when _I_ propose the indiscriminate slaughter of thousands it's madness, but when _you_ do it, it's legitimate government policy?"

Org opened his mouth and closed it again.

But Siegrain just laughed. "He'd never do it. It's an obvious bluff."

Unimpressed, Laxus met his gaze with cold eyes. "Yesterday, I destroyed half a city because my guild pissed me off. I'm a hell of a lot angrier now than I was back then." Lightning surged along his fist, and it seemed as if the entire body of Etherion quivered in response. "Go ahead. Use Etherion. Why don't we find out who is faster – your doomsday weapon, or me?"

"You…" Org tried, but he couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. "This is insane." Shaking his head, he backed away from the control panel, indicating that the others should do the same.

Once there was no one left within a few steps of the activation switch, Laxus let the power around him fade away. As long as he kept an eye on the situation, he was in no doubt that he'd be able to gather his power faster than they could cross that gap to fire Etherion. "That's more like it," he remarked, impassively. "Now all of you shut up and listen to Mira."

No one was more surprised at that than Mira herself. "Me?"

"You think they're going to take _me_ seriously after I just threatened to kill them all? This is your fight. You need to stop them."

"But… I can't… I already failed…"

"You can." They looked at each other. For a brief moment, Mira thought she could see a lot more of his grandfather in Laxus's face than he would have liked. "You believed in me when no one else did, and now it's my turn to believe in you. And as far as I'm concerned, Mira, if you can convince an entire guild that a man like me deserves a chance at being Master, then you can do anything."

Her look of surprise became a smile. Laxus was right. And his words brought back other memories too. It seemed like a whole world away, but hadn't it been only yesterday, when she had spoken to the guild in that hospital ward and shown them that they couldn't save Fairy Tail by destroying it? Wasn't this exactly the same?

She may had failed countless times to convince these people. But there were times when everyone in the guild lost, weren't there? Sometimes their opponents were just too strong, and it didn't make them give up. Why should she be any different, just because her battle was fought with words, not magic?

They were waiting for her to speak. Just as she had done in front of her guild, she didn't stop and think about what she was going to say; she just spoke from the heart.

"If you choose to fire Etherion here and now, things will never be the same. The moment you take one innocent life with your own two hands; the moment you abuse your power; the moment you employ fear tactics to keep the populace in line; the moment you knowingly destroy those you are supposed to be protecting – that is the moment that you make an enemy of every single human being in this whole world who wants to live freely. The two of us will be but the first to die in protest, for there _will_ be others. No matter how you try to justify it, this will be never be forgiven.

"What is it that you're trying to protect here? Our lives. Our freedom. Our rights. That is your duty as the Magic Council! And how is firing Etherion going to achieve any of that? Yes, you'll stop Zeref from being reborn – but at what cost? You'll prevent his world of death and fear and war from coming to pass, only to replace it with one of your own making. You can't protect freedom by governing the people with terror! You can't save anyone if you're willing to murder the innocent to do it! You're about to destroy the very thing that you _have_ to protect, no matter what!

"You are the Magic Council. The whole world looks to you for guidance. So tell me: what kind of example do you want to set for this world? Are you the ones who were willing to sacrifice any number of your own people to achieve your goals? Or are you the ones who protected the vulnerable until the very end? Don't abandon your humanity. Don't become the very evil you're trying to destroy. And don't ever give up on a single human life!"

At last, silence fell. Mira numbly felt a hand resting on her shoulder; a silent sign of Laxus's approval.

And Org asked, bitterly, rhetorically, "What the hell are we doing here? How could we have let it get this far?"

"If we go ahead with this, how will I be able to go back home and look my grandchildren in the eye?" Belno muttered.

"The Council who would not turn Etherion on our own people, no matter what," Yajima mused. "That is how I would prefer we were remembered."

The rest of the Council were nodding their heads in agreement. Laxus and Mira looked at each other; even though the moment was sincere, they couldn't help smiling.

"Of course, there is another option," Siegrain cut in dryly. "We could go down in history as the Council who stood by and did nothing while Zeref was resurrected and the whole world came to an end."

"If we don't fire Etherion," Org asked, "Then how can we stop Jellal?" He was looking to Mira as he spoke, as if the question was posed not to his fellow Council members, but to her.

However, she never got the chance to respond. At that moment, the door to the grand chamber burst open. Ducking under a Rune Knight's flailing arm, and ignoring at least two separate shouts of "You can't go in there!", a certain former Guild Master dashed into the room and skidded to a stop in front of the councillors. In one hand he held a stolen lacrima, and with the other he was making the peace sign; on his face he had the widest and most reckless grin that Mira thought she had ever seen him wear.

"Isn't it obvious?" Makarov demanded. "Fairy Tail will take the job!"

* * *

Makarov's sudden arrival was met by a whole range of reactions. From the Rune Knights and engineers scattered around the room, it was mostly outrage and shock. From the members of the Council, who quickly cottoned on to the fact that it was the legendary troublemaker Makarov Dreyar himself who had burst uninvited into their meeting, there came predominantly dismay. Mira had to fight back a sudden urge to laugh in relief. Yajima gave his old friend a thumbs-up from the back of the room, mouthing something to him that might have been, "Nice body!"

Perhaps surprisingly, the person made unhappiest by Makarov's appearance was none other than his grandson. "I hope you're not here to steal my thunder, old man," he growled.

"As if anyone in their right mind would think letting you open your mouth in front of the Magic Council was a good idea," Makarov retorted.

"Makarov! What is the meaning of this intrusion?" Org thundered. Now this was an enemy he knew how to deal with. Makarov, however, was too busy trying to scale the golden railings around Etherion without dropping the lacrima in his hand to reply. The councillor instead turned to the pair of Rune Knights standing hesitantly at the entrance to the room. "Why didn't you stop him?"

"She's scary…" one of them muttered.

Makarov took up his place next to Mira and Laxus, paying no heed to the furious look Laxus threw him. "I've come to set the record straight," he began. "But first – Laxus, go to the Tower of Heaven."

"Huh?" His anger evolved into outrage. "First you burst into our big scene, and now you're ordering me around?"

"Laxus!" Makarov snapped – and then, to Mira's amazement, he seemed to relent; his stony anger, honed through years of being at odds with his grandson, melted away. "Please," he added, softly. "As if it isn't bad enough that our team there has to take down an S-Class Mage, they've begun fighting amongst themselves. You've got to go. You're the only one who can talk some sense into them. They'll listen to you."

He hesitated. "But…"

"Don't worry. I'll take care of things here."

"If I leave, there'll be no one to protect you-"

"Go! Fairy Tail needs you!" Makarov roared. "Are you their Guild Master or not?"

Laxus's eyes widened. He didn't trust himself to speak, so he simply turned away without a word, and let his magic build up in the air around him.

Then, so quietly that only the old man could hear him, he murmured, "If you waste all Mira's hard work and let them fire Etherion, there'll be trouble."

"It won't fire. I promise."

With that confirmation, Laxus shifted into his lightning form and vanished out through the hole in the ceiling.

Now that the biggest threat had gone, the Rune Knights had begun eyeing the two Fairy Tail mages in a rather unsettling manner. Mira felt suddenly trapped with nowhere to run, as the circle of hungry wolves closed in. More than just the danger to herself, however, she was worried about Makarov. He had said that to Laxus, but she knew as well as anyone how emotionally-unstable that man had been since Laxus had taken over the guild – no, since his first failed attempt to use Take Over magic.

"Are you sure you're alright with this?" she asked, knowing he would understand perfectly what she was trying to ask. _Are you really okay with Laxus taking over the guild?_

Makarov gave a sigh. "It seems that brat grew up when I wasn't looking."

 _And he's not the only one_ , Mira added silently, with a grin.

Meanwhile, the members of the Council, relieved that Laxus had vanished, had gone back to arguing amongst themselves. This time, however, there was a decisive split amongst their ranks, and it was not in Siegrain's favour. When he proposed, half sarcastically but half deadly serious, that they were free to use Etherion once again, he was met with outrage from the other councillors.

"We are not using Etherion," Org told him firmly. "What part of that do you not understand?"

The young man argued, "The vote has already been taken! We can't turn back now, just because a criminal made a speech-"

"Of course we can," snapped Yajima, losing patience. "If it's legal reasons you want, then clause 13b of the Etherion legislation permits – no, forces! – a re-vote if new evidence comes to light and we have strong reason to believe that it would change the verdict. There's no doubt now that our decision this time would be different. But the humane reasons should be enough for you, as they are for everyone else! You seem to be unreasonably keen on firing Etherion, Siegrain – what are you not telling us?"

The other's scowl deepened. "I'm only trying to stop you from making a grave mistake."

"Is that really all there is to it?"

"If you've got something to say, Yajima, then say it," Siegrain challenged.

"Here's a funny thing about the Tower of Heaven," Makarov interrupted brightly. Jumping back over the railings, he turned to confront the councillors, in fearless defiance of the sudden anger directed towards him. "As it turns out, the entire Tower is a giant lacrima designed to capture the power of Etherion and use it to fuel the R-System."

"Where's your proof?"

"Right here." Makarov held up the lacrima he was holding in his hand.

Lahar gasped. "That's the one I was using earlier – you _stole_ it!"

" _Borrowed_ it," he corrected mildly. "I got in touch with the archive mage sending the images. Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus go back a long way, and once I'd convinced him that they weren't all about to be blown to smithereens, he and his team agreed to re-enter the Tower in order to report back. They met some curious people on a boat who used to work for Jellal, and they had a couple of interesting things to say about the current state of affairs there. One of which, incidentally, was that this Jellal fellow is currently working with the Fairy Tail team in order to prevent the R-System from activating."

At a nudge from his magic power, the lacrima began to glow, projecting a screen up into the air above it. Though the picture crackled with interference, most likely from the sheer concentration of magic in the air from Etherion's target lock, Jellal could clearly be seen standing back to back with a half-naked mage that none of the councillors recognized, but who proudly bore the Fairy Tail mark on the upper right of his chest. The angle made it difficult to see exactly who they were fighting. Makarov rapidly closed his hand around the lacrima, shutting off the images. Perhaps he already knew.

"It's quite possible," he said, evenly, "That we might have to re-evaluate exactly who our allies and our enemies are."

"The R-System _needed_ Etherion all along? We were that close to giving Jellal the final piece of his plan? If it hadn't been for you…" Org's voice tailed off in horror as he looked at Mira; equally shocked by the revelation, she found that she could say nothing. She had only been trying to protect her friends. It was nothing more than a fluke that she had ended up preventing the R-System's activation. The councillor continued, "Siegrain! Did you know about this?"

"Of course not. How could I? Besides, I would never have suggested using Etherion if I'd known."

"Then you're going to give up and stop trying to fire Etherion?"

Siegrain narrowed his eyes. "On the word of a traitor mage and some friends of Jellal's? I for one find all of this difficult to believe."

"Siegrain-!" Yajima exploded. He seized the young man – and any accusations he may have been about to make fell flat as his hand passed right through the other's arm. "A Thought Projection?" he asked.

Even though he would recognize the feel of that magic anywhere, he still had to think twice about it. If Siegrain's body here was a Thought Projection, then he had never seen another like it. It displayed none of the characteristic flickering of an ordinary projection, and even the magical presence he could sense seemed as solid as if a real person was standing there. He could have been doing this for years and none of them would have been any the wiser.

"There's nothing unusual about that, is there?" Siegrain retorted in annoyance.

"Actually, there is," interrupted Org. "You told us you were here in Era, and you never filed a request to appear as a Thought Projection this meeting – knowing full well, I assume, that your vote for Etherion would count for nothing in accordance with our laws if you weren't here in person. How long, exactly, has this been going on for, Siegrain?"

"Don't overreact. I was merely held up-"

"Really? _You?_ Both Laxus and Makarov managed to get here from Magnolia in that time. With your magic, getting here should have been a trivial matter."

"It's not that simple-"

As the councillors turned upon Siegrain, who continued to protest his innocence, Mira felt her gaze drawn towards Makarov. He wasn't paying their debate any attention – instead, he seemed to be engaged in a whispered but energetic discussion with Lahar and an engineer, over by one of the complicated-looking mechanical systems by the wall. That was him through and through. The politicians could debate around in circles as much as they liked; he was the one interacting with the soldiers and the technicians and actually getting something done.

Makarov saw her looking and headed over towards her as the woman in the lab coat began fiddling with dials on the control panel. Completely at ease, he rested his arms on the railing and leaned over to speak to her. "Mira, I'm going to have to borrow your magic for a little while. You don't mind, right?"

"I don't, but – are you sure that's a good idea?" As the full repercussions of what he had said reached her, she found herself shaking her head vehemently. "Don't you remember what happened last time you tried using Take Over?"

"I remember. I screwed up and left my guild to fend for itself during its darkest hour." Mira began to say something else, but he overrode her. "And do you know what else happened? My children seized the moment and learnt to stand on their own two feet. My guild proved that it was more than capable of looking after itself. My grandson stepped up and became the leader that I couldn't be. The only part of that decision I regret is looking like a fool in front of my guild, and this is my chance to rectify that. Just because I'm technically retired now doesn't mean I can't protect my children."

Mira gave a rueful smile. If the old Master that she held in such high regard could say something like that, then she believed him. She simply nodded in support.

Both of them turned their attention back to the arguing councillors just to time to hear Yajima's scornful declaration, "I wouldn't be surprised to find out that your real body is in the Tower of Heaven right now!"

"Well, why don't we find out?" Makarov interjected calmly. All eyes turned to him, but in a show of good faith, he left it to the Council's employees to explain.

"Your magic may be powerful, Siegrain, but we stand at the centre of the magical world," Lahar said. Though he seemed as sincere as always, amusement glinted behind his glasses. "It is a simple matter, if necessary, for us to trace the source of a Thought Projection."

"And the results are in," the technician added. "Lahar, sir?"

"I see," he remarked, glancing over her shoulder at the screen. "Hmm, hmm. There is a link to the Tower of Heaven, though it's weak, almost to the point of inactivity. Far more interesting is its active source of magic. No wonder it's so powerful – after all, it's coming from within this very room. Isn't that right, Ultear Milkovich?"

The young woman's eyes widened in shock. "You can't be serious-"

"What is the meaning of this, Ultear?" came Org's stern accusation.

Instinctively, the Rune Knight guards in the room shifted slightly, covering the exits, prepared to block her escape. It was just a small gesture; not to mention, they were fully aware that not one of them would be able to stop a woman of Ultear's power if she wanted to flee. However, it summed up the mood in the room. She would find only enemies here. She had hardly gone out of her way to make allies or even friends on the Council – and although that had suited her goals just fine at the time, it meant that there was no one who would speak up for her, or question the evidence, or, however temporarily, grant her the benefit of the doubt.

And as her plans fell apart around her, she chose the one course of action open to her which still held the slightest chance of spreading panic and disunity amongst the Council. She ran towards Etherion's control panel. After all, it hadn't been deactivated – only aborted. All it would take to rain that magical energy down upon the Tower of Heaven and inflict irreparable damage to the Magic Council's reputation was a single touch from someone authorized to control it.

Ultear slammed her hand down on the activation button – or she would have done, if Makarov hadn't punched her in the face.

Well, perhaps that was an understatement. In the time it had taken for her to make her decision and reach for the red button, he had activated Mira's Take Over, controlled and mastered it, teleported across the distance between them, and punched her with enough force to throw her straight through a pillar and into the far wall.

Mira looked on in shock. Had she been that fast, back when she had still gone by the nickname Demon Mirajane? The members of the Magic Council were even more surprised, though their motivation was somewhat different. After all, they may have been familiar with Makarov's power as one of the Ten Wizard Saints, but they certainly hadn't been expecting him to suddenly go full-on Satan Soul.

His appearance had completely changed. Gone was Mira's serene demeanour; her demonic form was far more appropriate for channelling the old man's anger. His hair was drawn up and tied above his head, revealing the angular touch to his face and his fiery, slanted eyes. A single crack ran up the right side of his face. Mira's modest dress had vanished, and in its place was tight-fitting, revealing armour, evocative of Mira's part-time photo shoots as pin-up model. Demonic horns, a reptilian tail and bat wings completed his transformation into Mira's Take Over form.

"Whatever game you've been playing is over, Ultear," Makarov threatened. "Turn yourself in and I'm sure you and the Council can come to a peaceful resolution."

She just laughed, a cold, clear sound which cut through the humming of Etherion's machinery. "I have nothing to talk about with that bunch of fools." Smiling, she got back to her feet, as if hitting a stone pillar with enough force to snap it in two was nothing. "This is the end."

Ultear held out her hand. Above her palm, the glass orb she always had on her person floated calmly, a focus for the intense magic power she was radiating. As Makarov charged towards her, a violent tremor shook the chamber. Cracks appeared in the walls and ceiling. One fracture ran dangerously close to the join where the chains holding Etherion's inverted pyramid were suspended from the ceiling. Magic sparked into life around the lacrima; red warning lights began flashing on the control panel.

The building in which the Magic Council had made its headquarters was an old one. It had seen many generations of rulers come and go, and had stood tall through several centuries. Yet it would not stand forever, and as Ultear's magic forced the time of that grand chamber to accelerate, it began to fall apart. Enormous chunks of rock, each large enough to crush a man to death, tore themselves free of the disintegrating ceiling and plummeted towards Makarov.

He was fast, though. He dodged the first two without breaking stride, not even flinching as they shattered on the ground next to him. A pillar toppled towards him and he leapt over it, utilizing Mira's wings to glide. He landed atop another falling rock and pushed off again without touching the ground.

Glaring at him, she simply widened the area of effect of her magic. Now he wasn't the only one in danger. As a large lump of rock hurtled down towards the Rune Knights guarding the exit, Makarov was forced to pass up the chance to strike Ultear, teleporting past her to shatter the stone with a single swift kick. Even as the Knights voiced their thanks, Ultear hurled her orb towards him with telekinesis. A solid blow to the back sent him sprawling across the floor.

With an effort, Mira turned her attention away from the unfolding battle and began running towards the other councillors. "We've got to get out of here," she shouted. "It's not safe!"

While most of the engineers and guards were more than happy to oblige, the members of the Council were more hesitant. Org demanded, "Are you saying we should just leave it to Makarov? After everything he's done, you expect us to just trust him?"

"The Council's enemies are Fairy Tail's enemies," Mira told him stubbornly. "But whether you believe that or not doesn't matter. There's one very good reason why he won't let Ultear escape."

"And what's that?"

Mira smiled. "She tried to kill the members of Fairy Tail in the Tower. He's going to make her pay for that."

The others, most of whom agreed with Mira and wanted to get out of the way of the ongoing fight, nodded at her words. Still, the gruff old man wasn't happy. "Do you expect us become indebted to Fairy Tail?"

Yajima snapped, "We're already indebted to Fairy Tail. But if you want to take Ultear on yourself, be my guest."

Org blanched at the thought. Like most of the Council members, his days of fighting – with magic or otherwise – were far behind him. The only one of their number with the power and ability to stand up to Ultear would have been Siegrain, and it turned out that he had never existed all along. "I suppose we'll have to let Fairy Tail deal with this. That's what the mage guilds are for, after all."

"I bet you're glad you didn't disband us now, aren't you?" Mira grinned.

"Don't push your luck, Mirajane," he growled back, though there was a reluctant and exasperated humour in his voice. Then their conversation was cut off abruptly as the splintering fractures reached the ceiling above them and they were forced to run for their lives.

Meanwhile, with the area around them cleared, Makarov was beginning to turn the tables on Ultear. She had tried to strike him while he was down, but his weakness had just been a feint to buy time for the councillors to get to safety, and he snatched her orb out of the air and crushed it in his clawed hand. Seizing the advantage, he generated a ball of dark energy around his fist and flung it at her. Although she managed to get out of the way in time, he had used it as a distraction to get close to her, turning the fight back into a physical one.

It took all of Ultear's concentration just to match Makarov's speed. Though she was able to block his rapid strikes, he was slowly pushing her backwards, and she had no choice but to abandon her magic's control over the room's time. The shaking slowly subsided; trickles of dust still fell from the ceiling, but nothing larger. Beads of sweat broke out on her forehead.

A well-timed feint let Makarov break through her defence, and his kick, charged with his fury and Mira's demonic powers, had enough force behind it to hurl her halfway across the room. And he wasn't about to stop there, either. He teleported behind her as she fell and kicked her again, this time driving her straight into a pillar. The ceiling gave another alarming groan as this support was also toppled to the floor, but he paid it no heed. All his attention was fixed on his opponent – this woman who had dared to try and harm his children. Before she could get to her feet he landed on top of her, pinning her to the ground. He raised a fist to strike, and paused.

"This is your last chance to surrender," he said, aware that the Council members were still watching.

However, far from being intimidated, she just raised her eyebrow at him. "Whose last chance to surrender?" she asked lightly.

He realized his mistake a moment too late. Once he had smashed that orb of hers, he had thought her to be without a weapon. He hadn't counted on her being able to rewind its time and return it to a state before it had been broken. It struck him from behind, throwing him off her and allowing her to get back to her feet. Nor would she let him destroy it again. Without giving him the chance to get his bearings, she commanded, "Flash Forward!"

The floating orb shimmered and seemed to replicate itself. All of a sudden there was not one orb but a hundred, surrounding Makarov on all sides. Then, without warning, they all hurtled towards him, bombarding his body from every direction. No matter how many he smashed, there were always more; they swarmed around him too quickly for the eye to follow and overwhelmed any guard he could muster. Each blow was packed not just with force, but with Ultear's formidable magic power. Makarov fell to one knee. Against this assault, there was nothing he could do.

Ultear showed no sign of letting up. Her mission to sow discord amongst the Magic Council was coming to an end in failure, but fighting against Makarov provided her with an unprecedented opportunity. If she could kill him, it would make things much easier for her Master when he made his move.

So she watched him suffer with her arm outstretched, and an expression of glee crossed her face. "These are all the future paths that my orb could take, each one from a different potential universe that will never come to be. There are so many ways that I could strike you, and with this magic, I can use them all at the same time. There's no way you can defend from every possible future at once!"

Somehow, Makarov managed to find the breath to reply. Despite the pain he was under, his voice was calm. "I see. Well, if it's the future, then I have nothing to fear."

Ultear's eyes widened. Amidst the storm of orbs, Makarov was getting to his feet. She intensified the assault – but it only strengthened his resolve. The shadows around him seemed to lengthen; purple lightning crackled into existence around his body.

"The thing about the future," he told her, "Is that you never know quite how it's going to turn out. For so long I feared a future with my grandson at the head of the guild, but rather than running away from it like I did, those brats grasped that future with both hands and shaped it into something incredible. What looked like Fairy Tail's darkest hour became our defining moment. We make our own future. That is living. That is freedom. And that is Fairy Tail!"

All the orbs around him shattered at once. The strength of the magic he was emitting was phenomenal. Mira felt certain that she had never possessed that amount of power - no, this was Makarov's desire to protect his guild in the only way he could, given form. Besides, he may have come to terms with his abrupt retirement now, but he wasn't about to let Laxus take all the credit. He could still look after his children. There was no doubt about that.

In an instant all that energy had gathered between his palms, forming a large sphere of swirling black magic, which he flung at Ultear. There was a great explosion; at least another two aged pillars gave up and crumbled to the ground. When the dust cleared, Ultear was lying, unconscious, at the bottom of a smoking crater.

Makarov let out a sigh of relief, allowing his Take Over to fade away. Mira and the Council members, who had been watching the battle from a sensible distance, deemed it safe to approach. The ever-resourceful Lahar had run to fetch another pair of magic-suppressing handcuffs while the fight had been ongoing, and now he cautiously walked up to Ultear's body. When he was certain she wasn't about to spring up and attack him, he fastened them around her wrists, and confiscated her orb for good measure.

Yajima, meanwhile, stepped up to his old friend and clapped him on the back. "You've still got it," he mused, approvingly.

"I so totally have," was Makarov's casual response. He sounded far too pleased with himself.

Even Mira had to laugh. "That was impressive."

"I know, right?" he chortled. Then he looked at her, and his gaze became solemn. "Oh, one other thing, Mira…"

He touched her shoulder gently. There was a flash of golden light, and when it receded, Mira was left with a strong feeling of disorientation. Something had changed, and it took her a while to realize what it was – she was a normal height again. She was back in her own body.

"That was surprisingly easy," she remarked, thinking somewhat wistfully of the enormous ice wall that Gray and Lucy had produced right before they had overcome Changeling. Then she remembered what Cana and Elfman had gone through right in front of her in order to change back, and berated herself for having such thoughts. She was just grateful that things had gone back to normal.

Makarov didn't meet her gaze. "Well, about that…"

"What?"

"To be honest, I felt like I've been able to do that pretty much since I showed up here," he admitted. "It's more or less how I knew I'd be able to use Take Over safely this time. But, I just wanted to hold on to your magic for a while."

"Why?" she asked, bemused. She wasn't the least bit annoyed about it, only genuinely curious. "What's wrong with _your_ magic?"

"Nothing's wrong with it. It's just that I haven't been able to move like that in years."

Mira raised her eyebrows; Yajima, nodding sagely, draped his arm around Makarov's shoulders. "And now you're back to being an old man. Enjoy your youth while you can, Mirajane. It'll be over before you know it."

She was not entirely sure how to reply to that. "Thanks for the warning, I guess?"

"Makarov Dreyar." This sudden and sombre interruption came from Org. He and the other remaining Council members had gathered in front of them.

However, before they could speak, Makarov held up his hand to stop them. "I know there's a lot you want to talk about, but now is not the time. Before you decide what to do with Fairy Tail, I'm sure you'll want to hear Ultear's story, and Jellal's, and Erza's-"

"Erza? Erza Scarlet?" Yajima asked, with a frown. "Why her?"

Heaving a sigh, Makarov picked up the stolen lacrima from where it had come to rest on the floor. The projected images returned to life at his touch. "The threat from the Tower of Heaven is not over yet. Let's see how this plays out before we go any further."

"What if Fairy Tail can't deal with whatever awaits them in the Tower?" Even though this came from Org, it wasn't, this time, an accusation. It was a genuine concern. It had taken one of the Ten Wizard Saints to defeat Ultear, after all.

"Don't worry," Makarov told him firmly. "Say what you like about Fairy Tail, but we have our pride as a mage guild. We took this job. We will definitely see it through to the end."

And it seemed as if a touch of sorrow entered his eyes as he added, "Whatever that end may bring…"

* * *

 _ **A/N:** I had way too much fun with this chapter. I kind of needed it after the run of depressing/painful-to-write chapters. One of the best things about only covering a small subset of canon arcs is that you can screw up future storylines and it's absolutely fine. Hehe. Being able to ruin the plans of the characters you don't like is one of the little perks of being a fanfiction author._

 _(Not that I think arresting Ultear here really damages the future arcs. By the end of this arc in canon everyone knows she's a traitor anyway, and she's smart - I'd be amazed if she didn't have some sort of contingency plan in place for if she did get arrested. Alternatively, her guild is rather powerful, and I can easily envision them casually swinging by prison to pick her up on their way to Tenrou Island. Plus, if she's already broken out of prison once, it would explain how she's able to rescue Jellal during the timeskip and so on. So I don't think it's that much of a problem.)_

 _But that aside... between Makarov finally getting to do something awesome for his guild; Laxus having a total (if lamentably brief) badass moment; and Mira standing up and proving to everyone (and especially to herself) that she can make more of a difference without having magic than she ever did with it... Getting to write this made fighting my way through some of the previous chapters worth it. As ever, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it! ~CS_


	24. The True Power of Fairy Tail United

_**A/N:** Chapter Twenty-Four. A battle that has very little relevance to anything but was really fun to write, and another battle which actually is necessary for the plot but was not fun at all. Ehh, it's the penultimate chapter. I got this far; I figured I earned the right to write the fights that I want :P I love just getting to play around with certain characters' magic - especially when it means putting off having to do the final battle... ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Four: The True Power of Fairy Tail United**

If someone had asked him how the fight had begun, Gray wouldn't have been able to answer. Even now, it was difficult for him to believe it was happening.

He remembered surprise. Of all the people he had been expecting to encounter blocking his way to the top of the Tower of Heaven, Levy, Freed and Gajeel hadn't been high on the list. What on earth were they even doing here?

He also remembered impatience. What they didn't have right now was time. They had to reach Erza before Etherion fired, and that meant he had to treat anyone in their way as an enemy, even members of his own guild.

And finally, he remembered frustration. They stood in front of him, saying exactly the same things he himself had said to Jellal. _It's not too late. Erza can be saved._

They understood _nothing_. They were as blind as he had been back then. He could finally empathize with how Jellal had acted towards him. Ideology was great, but it didn't help anyone. He didn't _want_ Erza to die; if there was any other way at all, he would be siding with them. They just didn't understand. They hadn't seen what he had seen – what she had done. There was no going back for her. He couldn't let the entire world fall into the darkness and despair of Zeref's reign just because of his personal feelings.

If they had had time, he would have tried to convince them of that. Time, however, was not on their side. As far as he was aware, Etherion could fire at any minute. He could apologize to them later. Right now, he had to get to Erza.

And so they were fighting. Friend against friend; Fairy Tail mage against Fairy Tail mage. The winner got to choose whether Erza or the world would be sacrificed.

When Gray had fought Evergreen back during the Battle of Fairy Tail, he had found it difficult at first to perceive her as an enemy – and his hesitation had almost got him killed. He wasn't about to make the same mistake here. He didn't want to harm any of his friends from the guild, and he certainly wouldn't go out of his way to cause them undue pain, but nor was he about to hold back. That was why he was fighting for his life against the Iron Dragon Slayer Gajeel – a man who, just forty-eight hours ago, he had helped convince to join their guild.

He had lost track of Levy, Freed and Jellal. His opponent was a fearsome one, and if he didn't give him all his attention, this would be over before it even started. "Ice Make: Lance!"

Gajeel wasn't the least bit intimidated by Gray's attack. Shifting his right arm into a blade, he slashed the ice missiles out of the air without missing a step. Gray backed away, encouraging his opponent to leap forwards with his sword raised high above his head.

At the last moment, Gray dodged. Not content with just running away, however, he placed his hands together, using Ice Make once again to coat the floor with a thick layer of ice. Upon landing, Gajeel slipped almost comically. Only his quick thinking in plunging the blade through the ice and into the stone beneath prevented him from skidding off down the hallway.

That was what Gray had been hoping for. Rather than taking the chance to back away, he increased the amount of magic power he was using the keep the floor frozen. Frost began to creep up the edge of Gajeel's blade. Metal was an excellent conductor of heat; furthermore, that iron was physically a part of the Dragon Slayer's body. Gray could do severe damage to him with this simple freezing magic. Alarmed, Gajeel tried to pull his arm free, but the ice held it fast.

However, help was on its way. Gray noticed the slight change in his expression as Gajeel's gaze slipped past his shoulder, and he turned just in time to see Levy spring up behind him. Her mouth was set in a brave line. She didn't want to have this fight either, but she would protect her teammate. "Solid Script: Fire!"

A word of flames appeared in the air in front of her, burning brightly, and shot towards Gray. Coming from a fire mage - especially a certain Fire Dragon Slayer - that might have been problematic for him to deal with, but the control over fire that Solid Script granted Levy only went so far. It may have been greatly versatile magic, but that simply meant that it lacked in focus. "Ice Make: Shield!" Gray declared with confidence, and was satisfied to see the burning word break apart harmlessly against his creation.

That was when Gajeel's Iron Dragon's Roar struck him from behind.

The shards of iron from his breath attack cut deep into Gray's skin; he cried out and almost fell. Unused to being outnumbered in combat, he had fallen for the oldest trick in the book and left himself completely open. The sting of that mistake hurt even more than the wounds decorating his back. Even now, they were flanking him. If he turned to face one of them, the other would have a free strike.

But the convoluted circumstances that had made enemies of friends had also made friends of enemies. In the next moment, Jellal was there at his back, covering his blind spot and evening the odds.

Well, perhaps 'friend' was too strong a word. It wasn't that long ago that they had been stood on opposite sides of the battlefield. They were almost complete strangers. They knew next to nothing about each other. They were accidental allies at best; fighting together only because neither of them could go through with this on their own.

Yet not having to face his darkest moment alone was so, so important. More so than Gray would ever admit out loud.

"You deal with the Dragon Slayer," Gray said. "I'll take the other two."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other nod in acquiescence. The slight pressure at his back vanished as Jellal sprung towards Gajeel.

Unlike his temporary partner, Jellal had no attachment to these people or their guild. They were simply his enemies, just like every person he had met for the past eight years had been. He spared no thought for emotion; for the concept of friends or allies; for fears of the future or its repercussions – to him, there was only what needed to be done.

Though his magic power was recovering rapidly as usual, he wanted to conserve as much of it as he could. Once they got through this, he would still have to fight Erza, and if she could regenerate her body like she had done earlier, no spell of his weaker than Altairis would be able to eliminate her. He had no intention of underestimating his opponents here, but if he could hold them off without having to rely on his more powerful magic, it would be an important victory.

Thus, trusting the rear guard to Gray, he ran in with a physical attack. He feinted left and swung right, satisfied to see his punch break through the other's guard – only to have his fist clang against the solid iron scales suddenly covering Gajeel's body. The Dragon Slayer gave a wicked laugh as Jellal fell back, clutching at his hand in annoyance. But that trick would only work once. He was sure he could break those scales if he tried.

Even wounded, Jellal was by far the faster of the two. He used that speed to his full advantage, darting round the muscled Dragon Slayer and waiting for an opening. Only the strikes which happened to come close to the wound in his side did he block, for a hit there could put him out of the fight for good. He knew it was only a matter of time before his experienced opponent figured out his weakness. If he couldn't find his opening before then, or if Gray couldn't hold off their other two opponents on his own, he would have to take a gamble and unleash whatever power he had been able to accumulate.

Meanwhile, Gray saw Levy fall back behind a line of runes Freed had been inscribing on the floor and stopped in his tracks. After the events of the Battle of Fairy Tail, he knew better than to rush in on an established Jutsu Shiki trap. Nothing Freed had used during that city-wide battle would be of much use to him here - they were already fighting friend against friend - but that wasn't very reassuring. Only Levy had any idea of the limitations of Freed's magic, and he didn't like the look of the grin that swept across her face as she scanned the line of runes.

The two of them seemed to be waiting for him to make the first move. He narrowed his eyes. He was unwilling to cross that line without knowing what the consequences would be, but then again, he was an Ice Make user; he was nothing if not versatile. He could fight equally well at close quarters or at range.

"Ice Make: Ice Cannon!" A great two-handed cannon appeared in his hands, which he had to rest on his shoulder for support. It only took a moment for him to aim it and fire, sending an enormous cannonball of ice flying towards the two with enough recoil to almost make him fall. A hit from that would be devastating.

Except it never reached them. As the cannonball flew over the line of runes, they shone with brilliant purple light – and then it was no longer a ball of ice, but an orb of water. It fell apart as it flew and sloshed harmlessly to the ground at the rune mage's feet.

Gritting his teeth, Gray followed it up with a shower of ice lances, only for the exact same thing to happen again. He understood the gist of it now. Within those runes, the melting point of ice was sharply lowered. It was a smart way of wording the rule as well. Rather than trying to prevent him from creating ice directly or turn his attacks away, it used the inherent weakness of his moulding medium to render his magic useless without their respective powers ever having to come into conflict.

Levy seized upon his hesitation, creating the word 'Bullets' in the air in front of her. The metallic letters unleashed a hail of bullets towards Gray. Thinking quickly, he created a shield in front of him, making sure to harden the surface so as to reflect the bullets rather than let them bury into the ice. The jagged structure of the surface worked to his advantage; the bullets were scattered in a wide, unpredictable arc back towards their caster.

As Levy dived to the side, Gray broke cover, sprinting towards Freed. If he couldn't create ice, then he would use his fists to get the other to retract the runes. Freed's sword was in his hand instantly. Gray refused to let himself be intimidated, however. He ducked under a hasty swing and drove his fist into the other's stomach, sending Freed staggering backwards. Gray followed it up with a flurry of punches, determined to break through the other's guard before Levy recovered.

He underestimated his opponent's speed, though. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the thin duellist's blade flicking round towards the side of his head; instinct took over and he reached up, catching the blade against his left palm. A flash of pain shot through him. He had acted without thinking, and the ice he had automatically tried to coat his hand with to protect it from the sharp bite of steel had melted instantly. Blood began to trickle down his bare arm.

Their eyes locked. Gray felt a surge of fear. If the other used his Dark Écriture now, there was no way he could defend himself from this position.

And yet Freed hesitated. It was obvious that he was thinking about the Battle of Fairy Tail; the last time he had fought against people who should have been his friends. Having only just reconciled with his guild, he didn't _want_ to be dragged into this fight.

Back then, Freed had been convinced that he was doing the right thing, and it was only at the end of the battle that he and his companions had finally accepted that they were wrong and the guild had been right all along. To have felt so passionately about something, and then realized it was wrong – perhaps he thought that he understood how Gray was feeling.

 _But I'm not like that,_ Gray thought fiercely. _I_ know _that what I'm doing isn't the right thing. It's necessary. I'm not fighting for Laxus or some stupid ideal like changing the guild – I'm doing this in order to prevent the end of the world! As if he could understand!_

Freed said, "Please, Gray. Stop this. It's not too late for us to save Erza. If we just-"

"There's no _time!_ " Gray snarled. "The Erza we know is already dead!"

His opponent's reluctance became his opportunity. Rather than letting go of Freed's sword, he only held it tighter, ignoring the pain it brought. With a sharp tug he dragged him off-balance and followed up with a powerful kick. Just like that, the tables turned – but as he stepped forwards to finish the fight, they flipped straight back again as his leg collapsed underneath him and he fell into the hole that Levy's well-timed Solid Script had made in the floor.

"Freed!" Levy shouted, her voice cracking in desperation. "We have to stop them. We _have_ to!"

He understood what she was saying. This was the only way he would be able to knock some sense into Gray. If he kept playing defensively, he'd lose his chance, and so he directed his magic towards his trapped opponent. "Dark Écriture: Pain."

Rather than pain, though, Gray felt a sudden light-headed dizziness, coupled with the strange feeling that he had moved and left his insides behind in the hole. He had never fought against Freed before, and as such, he did not know exactly what to expect from the rune mage's spell, but he was pretty sure it was supposed to hurt more than that.

A moment later everything snapped into place. As the ground dropped away beneath him, he realized that he was being pulled upwards – Jellal had snatched him out of harm's way in the nick of time and was holding him firmly under one arm. With Meteor's golden light blazing around them, they hurtled through the air.

It took one lap of the large hall for Jellal to slow down enough to drop Gray safely onto the floor. He shot off again before the ice mage could thank him. Gray didn't know how to feel about it – were they really a team, he and this stranger? Just a few minutes ago they had been bitter enemies, and now they were risking their lives for each other?

No. It was only because Jellal knew he couldn't win alone that he had helped him. That was all it was. They understood each other, nothing more. No one on the path that the two of them now walked deserved that thing called friendship.

But there were more pressing matters to take care of. Now that he was out of Freed's runes, he forced ice to crawl across the palm of his hand, freezing the wound shut to stop the bleeding and numb the pain. Ideally, he'd have bound it with cloth, but God only knew where he had left his shirt. Thanks to Jellal's intervention, he was more or less unhurt, and that meant he could throw himself back into the fray.

"Ice Make: Prison!" he called out. Jumping as high as he could, he placed his fist against his palm above his head and shaped his magic to his will. Gajeel saw him coming, but not quickly enough. Bars crashed down on all sides; Gray landed on top of the makeshift prison, safely out of reach of anything the Dragon Slayer might throw at him. He ignored the angry shouts from below and concentrated on focussing more and more magic into the construct, dropping the temperature of the air around them. He would rather fight Gajeel than the other two. At least the Dragon Slayer's love of fighting meant he was neither holding back nor hesitating. Somehow, that made it easier for Gray to deal with.

Gray risked a glance over at Jellal. Golden magic seals shone around both his wrists as he flew; he had come to the conclusion that there was no point in conserving magic for the final battle if they weren't even going to reach it. Freed's attempts to hit the Wizard Saint with Dark Écriture came to nothing in the face of Jellal's speed and defiance of gravity, whereas Jellal's control let him aim blasts of energy almost as well with Meteor active as he could when stationary. Without knowing what Jellal's magic actually was, Freed couldn't write an effective Jutsu Shiki defence against it like he could against Gray's Ice Make.

At that moment, Levy ran up to Freed. "Let me try something. I don't know if this will work, but…" Then she shook her head firmly, as if to clear it. She would make it work. As long as she had the magic, the imagination and the willpower, Solid Script could make it happen. "Solid Script: Homing Missile!"

The words appeared in front of her in a puff of smoke. Understanding immediately, Freed wrote his word of Dark Écriture on top with a flick of his sword. One end of Levy's phrase burst into flames and it shot towards Jellal with the sound of a roaring engine.

Jellal moved to avoid it as he had all the others – only to realize too late that this one was tracking his movements exactly. The flying word struck him in the side, throwing him off course. He grimaced. It was an annoyance, but nothing more. There hadn't been any force behind the impact; if he focussed on controlling Meteor's flight path he could easily recover-

A shiver ran through him. That was the first sign that something was wrong. Then the room around him vanished. He was no longer flying through the Tower of Heaven, but through a void of utter blackness. He could see nothing; hear nothing; feel nothing. Without the rush of wind against his skin, he had no idea whether or not he was still moving. Perhaps he was moving, and no longer had a body to feel it with. Was this… death?

He felt a surge of panic. With an abhorrent relief, he grabbed onto that feeling – the fear that told him he was still alive. If he was alive, he could fight back. He reached for his magic – only to find that there was nothing there. A void inside his mind, mirroring the void in which he found himself.

 _That's right_ , he realized, with a detached slowness of thought. _If I had magic, I wouldn't still be here_.

He gazed up at the distant pinpricks of light in the darkness; the unattainable stars. If only he could gain that power, he wouldn't have to be a slave any more. He could break the shackles on his wrists; lead the other children in a rebellion to topple the Tower's overlords. He could even save Erza from that room of torture. But he couldn't. He didn't have magic. He was just a pathetic child with no power at all. He would always be weak-

 _No! I am strong now!_ Jellal screamed those words into the void of his mind. He would not be tied down by the past. He had the power to make his own choices now; he could reach for his own future. The illusion from his past shattered as he drew upon all the magic left within him. He would never be helpless like that ever again. He was strong-

Another voice slithered into the void of his mind. He knew it better than he knew his own, for it had dominated his life for eight years. He had thought he was free. He had been wrong. Freedom didn't exist, after all.

 _That's right. You're strong now. So strong._ Its amusement was horrifying. _You could put an end to this farce of a battle right now if you wanted to. You could go and kill Erza. Save the world. It would be a trivial matter for you if you really tried, because, as you keep insisting, you have power now. And once you've done that… what then?_

"I'll-" he began, but he faltered. He could not speak with any conviction. How could he, when that voice spoke the doubts in his own heart?

The sibilant laughter cut through him like a blade of ice. _Do you think strength is all you need to stand in the light? No amount of power will allow you to erase what you have done. All this is your doing, and they won't ever forget that. You will never belong amongst them. No one will ever accept you. Those who gave themselves to the darkness will never again walk in the light._

"It won't matter. I won't live beyond the end of this day."

 _Ah, but you will. Because you are strong, you see. Erza won't be able to beat you. You'll kill her, and be condemned to that punishment called life. You will survive. You will be always alone. No matter where you go, you will always be followed by your past. You will live to be despised, alone and unforgiven, until you beg for death and still your power will not grant you it! That is the fate of all who have walked in darkness!_

Some distant part of him knew he was falling, and in that moment, he simply couldn't bring himself to care. With any luck, the fall might be fatal, and then he wouldn't _have_ to care any more-

Bright lights of all colours shimmered in his vision. Dimly he became aware that there was something cold at his back; he was no longer in freefall, but sliding along something firm. A hand grabbed his, dragging him to an abrupt stop.

"Quit spacing out," someone ordered him. The irritation in that voice didn't quite mask the concern beneath it. "Come on, pull yourself together."

With an effort, the world snapped back into place. Jellal let Gray pull him to his feet. There was a tremble in his limbs that he couldn't quite control; he didn't trust himself to stand unaided. _The battle_ , he remembered suddenly. "What… happened?"

"Beats me. Freed hit you with something bad by the looks of things. His magic can be really creepy sometimes. You were screaming something and then you just dropped out of the sky…"

A glance around showed him the ramp of ice that had appeared out of nowhere, curved up at both ends to catch him. Something that size would have had a high magic cost. So why…? _No one will ever accept you_ , the voice had said, and he had believed it, because who in their right mind would fight to protect a person like him? "Why?"

"We're a team, aren't we?" Gray replied, almost defensively. "Neither of us can do this alone. I can't even touch those two while they're protected by the runes, and you can't take on all of them on your own, the way you are now."

Unsure of how to respond, Jellal glanced away. The voice had said something else too – that he could end this, if he wanted to. That voice, summoned from his memory and given life by dark magic, had lied about a lot of things, but not about that. "Alright," he said, though it was more to himself than to Gray. "I'll do it. Can you buy me some time?" Gray nodded once. "After this, dealing with Erza might well be up to you."

"I know."

Jellal began to run. Gray might not have known what he was planning, but he was willing to trust him. As unlikely as it was, they _were_ a team.

"As if we're gonna let you do that!" Gajeel roared. He and Levy ran towards Jellal, the latter having helped break him out of the ice prison while its caster was distracted.

Rolling neatly under an Iron Dragon's Roar that Gajeel flung at him in passing, Gray dived bodily at Levy, knocking her off-balance and causing the burning word she was about to throw at Jellal to go wide. He could easily have beaten Levy in a physical fight, but that wasn't the point here – every second that he could keep all three opponents away from his teammate brought them closer to victory.

So no sooner had he knocked Levy aside than he turned back to Gajeel. The Dragon Slayer was out of reach on his charge towards Jellal; Gray touched his hands to the floor, covering it in a sheet of rapidly-spreading ice. Unfortunately for him, he wouldn't catch Gajeel out with the same trick twice. Iron spikes protruded from the bottom of his shoes, enabling him to grip the icy floor.

Thinking fast, Gray scanned his surroundings for something he could use to his advantage – and his eyes fell on Levy. "Sorry, Levy," he muttered, and he picked her up by her collar. Ignoring her startled yelp, he span round on the spot and hurled her towards Gajeel.

The Dragon Slayer sensed the danger; he turned to strike whatever missile Gray had thrown at him out of the air, and instead found Levy flying towards him. "Eh?" was all he could manage before she careened into him and they both tumbled to the ground. "Hey, watch where you're flying!" he yelled at her.

"I'm sorry!" came Levy's anxious reply. She tried to stand up, slipped on the ice, and fell back on top of Gajeel. Gray couldn't help laughing at their compromising position, causing her to shoot him an angry glare. "That's not playing fair, Gray!"

Fair or not, he had achieved his aim. Jellal was in the air now, racing up the wall of the room with Meteor. At the top he paused for a moment to gather his thoughts; to shake off the memories tying him to the past and concentrate on what needed to be done in the present.

"Reach towards the endless sky," he murmured. He didn't need the words, of course, but they lent him focus. This was the source of his power. With a single sweep of his arm he drew a golden magic seal on the ceiling, almost as wide in diameter as he was tall. It began to shine fiercely. He could do this. Satisfied, he flew on, continuing his racing loop of the room.

As he curved, something flashed by just inches from his head. He risked a glance over his shoulder and saw Freed chasing after him, carried aloft by wings of purple runes. The rune mage's sword was in his hand. Even as he watched, Freed wrote a line of Dark Écriture in the air and launched it towards him, and he had to roll aside to avoid it. For now, he had the superior speed, but that would reverse the moment he slowed down to place the second seal. Attacking his opponent was also out of the question while he was concentrating on maintaining Meteor and the spell he was in the process of invoking. That left no choice. He would have to endure it.

"Stand beneath uncountable stars." Those words were his prayer. He completed the second seal an instant before Freed's magic struck him. Pain wracked his body; convulsing, he almost fell out of the sky. Instinct alone kept Meteor under control; sheer stubbornness of will bound him to his half-finished spell, preventing it from dissolving back into nothing. He poured more and more magic into Meteor, raising his speed and physical endurance and pushing away the pain until he could think clearly again. The spell wasn't designed to be used like that, but now was hardly the time to be worrying about the dangers. He had to keep going, no matter what the cost might be.

Gray saw Jellal take the hit – and, more importantly, he saw the tremors that ran through the whole magical structure Jellal was building. He would have to do something. Fortunately, thanks to a crafty and not entirely appropriate bit of ice magic freezing Gajeel's palm to Levy's left breast, his two opponents were still arguing, and that gave him an opening.

"Ice Make: Freeze Arrow." He generated an enormous crystalline bow in his hands and drew back an arrow of the coldest ice he could create against a string of magic, and sighted along the shaft. Even to him, the chill air rolling in waves from that arrow felt uncomfortable against his bare chest.

Freed was flying far too quickly; even with his magic guiding him, he was under no illusions as to his skills as an archer. "Come on, Jellal," he muttered to himself. "You're not alone here. We're a team, so come on, and notice…"

And then Jellal's pattern of flight shifted slightly. Only those on the ground would have been able to see it; if Freed noticed the difference, he gave no sign. Jellal flew directly towards Gray with his opponent in hot pursuit. As soon as they all fell into line, Gray released the arrow. At the last moment Jellal spiralled aside. Freed was too close to him to react, and the arrow struck him directly. Spikes of translucent crystal burst out from his body, shattering his rune wings and sending him crashing to the ground.

With no one in his way, Jellal placed the third seal on the ceiling at the far side of the room, directly opposite the first. "Sing the song of the heavens," he called; this time, it was a declaration of victory. All three elaborate seals shone brighter with the growing strength in his voice.

"There's no other choice, then," Freed said, struggling to his feet. Enough power was gathering above them that even the portentous aura of Etherion was difficult to detect. He reversed his blade so that the tip rested over his own heart. "This Darkness Magic may be forbidden, but if it's the only way to protect Erza, then I will pay the price-"

Gray chose that moment to whack him round the head with a giant ice hammer. "Like hell you will!" he yelled. "My teammate has enough mental issues as it is! Don't go doing something stupid and evil that's obviously going to set him off!"

Levy and Gajeel, having finally managed to disentangle themselves and get over their embarrassment, ran up to Freed. Gray hastily backed away, but they let him go without complaint. He wasn't the threat any more. "We're in trouble," Levy panted, glancing up at the ceiling.

Gajeel scowled. "What kind of spell needs four seals of that size? How much magic power does he even have?"

"I shall try and write a defence," Freed said dubiously. Without any knowledge of how Jellal's magic actually worked, however, he knew there was very little he could do, and there certainly wasn't time to get a proper Jutsu Shiki set up.

Levy watched Jellal as he drew the final seal. "Dance the firmament's dance," she heard him say, and a slight frown creased her face. Was it possible…? Probably not, but it was the only chance they had.

"Freed, I'll defend against this one," she told him firmly.

He cast her a worried glance. "Are you sure?"

"I've been pretty useless to both of you this fight-"

"That's not true-"

"And I think I can do this. So trust me, okay?" Both of them nodded. She took a deep breath. "Solid Script: Cloud Cover!"

The word 'Cloud' appeared in front of her in a puff of smoke. Gajeel stared at it, utterly underwhelmed by its inoffensive, fluffy appearance. As he watched, it replicated itself again and again, producing more Cloud words which bunched together in front of them and continued to make more copies. They quickly spread out to the left and right until the three of them were enclosed in a dome of words dense enough to be completely opaque.

Gajeel was not convinced. He poked one of the words. It wasn't even springy; the insubstantial letter parted beneath his finger, leaving it covered in a fine coating of water droplets. "So, what, we're gonna use this as cover and run away…?"

The two letter mages completely ignored him. "That's brilliant," Freed remarked, a touch of awe in his voice.

Gajeel checked, "…You're joking, right?"

"This is what it really means to use Solid Script magic," Levy explained quietly. "To move beyond the words that give them form and do battle with the very concepts themselves. It might not work, and even if it does… well, he might not play along." She took up a defensive posture in the very centre of the white, fluffy dome, one palm outstretched towards the wall. "He'll probably aim for where I am, so you two should move as far away as possible, just in case."

They couldn't refuse her when she was so determined. As they split up to give her space, Levy focussed on her barrier and let awareness of her surroundings fade from her mind. She couldn't see Jellal as he finished his incantation, but she could feel it. A beam of light ran between two opposing seals, and a second connected the other two, forming a great golden cross against the ceiling of the room.

He stood beneath it in the centre of the room, one hand stretched up towards the sky as enormous amounts of power swirled above him. "Key to the Gates of Heaven!" he commanded. "Grand Cross!"

Like the others, Levy had never encountered Heavenly Body Magic before, and as someone who pursued obscure and ancient magical texts for fun, that was saying something about its rarity. However, at heart, she felt that she understood it. She had done so ever since she had heard Jellal speak those words – lines which might have been from a poem, or even a prayer; the reverence of a lost civilization towards the secrets in the far corners of the universe.

What child hadn't gazed up at the stars and felt wonder? Who hadn't wished upon a falling star, or tried to read their fate in the movements of the planets, or sought the guidance of those sidereal messengers? Admiration for the perfect heavens was shared by all human beings. The fact that young Jellal had gazed up at the sky from the Tower where he had been enslaved and she had watched the stars in the garden of the house where she had grown up with her parents made no difference. Beneath those eternal heavens, all was the same.

And that meant it had a weakness. The awe that the celestial universe could inspire was a source of unimaginable power, but only when the stars were there to be seen. All it took to break the connection between the earth and the heavens was one cloudy night.

It was just a concept. For a water mage, or even one who could control the weather, an insubstantial barrier of clouds would have done nothing. In the hands of a Solid Script mage, though, for whom even magic itself was secondary to the fundamental power of words and concepts, it was another matter entirely. Her spell couldn't stop him from calling on the literal power of the stars, of course, but what was the difference between an actual object and a person's concept of that object, or the words they used to describe it? Levy not only understood that line, she could manipulate it. That was the freedom of Solid Script. If she couldn't sever Jellal's connection with the source of his power, she could certainly weaken it.

And that was why the enormous beam of focussed energy, blinding to look at, strong enough to have erased half the Tower in one hit, struck the dome of clouds conjured by a Solid Script mage and couldn't penetrate it.

This was one of Jellal's strongest spells; perhaps _the_ strongest he could invoke in his current state. That concentration of raw power should have torn through any kind of defence. The shock at having it nullified by a type of weak magic he didn't understand hit him like a physical blow.

Yet, at the same time, he had to win. No matter what clever technique his opponent was using, he had one thing she did not – the title of Wizard Saint. Even if it had been slightly unlawfully attained, it acknowledged his abnormally high magic power. He didn't want to win using brute force alone, but neither could he afford to lose. Protecting the world had to come first.

His resolve became his power. Rather than backing down, he simply pushed more magic into his spell, ramping up the intensity of the beam. Both of them knew that the most sophisticated barrier in the world would only hold while its caster could supply it with magic, and this one was draining Levy's remaining power at an alarming rate.

For a moment there was just the two of them in her world: the clash of their wills, spells irrelevant; her determination against his. As their magic grappled, forming a connection that words alone could not describe, she thought she could understand what he was trying to tell her.

 _If this breaks through, you will die. Go, while you still can._

He was right, of course. If she abandoned her spell now, along with any chance of winning, she could probably get out of the way before the barrier broke and she was hit. But if she fought to maintain the barrier until the very end, and her power ran out before his did, then there would be no time to run. She knew this, and still she gave a sad smile, and her resolve not to back down only increased.

She felt his confusion through their shared link. _Why?_

"Erza's my friend. I'd gladly give my life to save her."

A magnification of the force raging against her shield was the only response. She pushed back against it with everything she had, shouting aloud the words in her heart and drawing strength from them, not caring whether or not anyone could hear them.

"So what if she made some bad decisions? So did I. I knew how much she was suffering inside and I did nothing about it. I mean, what sort of friend am I? But that's just the thing. I'm not perfect and neither is she, but we can both keep being imperfect friends together. There is nothing she can do that is so bad as to ever make me give up on her. Even if she was stood right in front of me, trying to kill me, or end the world or whatever, I would still keep trying to save her, until the very end! I love my guild and I believe in my friends. It's as simple as that."

Anger. Impatience. Frustration. And more than that: despair. Such despair, as Levy had never known before, because he wanted to believe her and could not do so. A man who had given up all hope; who saw no merit in the future; who believed all happiness was forever out of reach. She wondered what he must have gone through to feel as though there was nothing worth living for, and she wished that he and Fairy Tail could have met somewhere other than a battlefield.

"Yeah, you're right. I don't know what's going on here. We only came here to find Erza, and the next thing we know Zeref's about to be resurrected and the world's going to end and we're fighting against a Wizard Saint and one of my best friends to stop them from killing another of my best friends. I'm so far out of my depth, it's terrifying. But, you know what? I don't care about any of that. If you try to make me choose between Erza and the world, I'll just take both. Don't you dare try telling me it's impossible. I'll make that judgement for myself once I've done everything in my power fight for the future that I want."

She could sense nothing over the roar of the raging magic in her mind, like the crashing of a distant ocean. She didn't know if he could still hear her. She didn't know if he would listen even if he could. But she spoke anyway. "Don't give up on Erza, and more than that, believe in yourself. If you can't see a way that she can be saved, then make your own. Amongst the infinite possible futures is one worth fighting for. Find it, hold it tight, and don't ever let it go. That's what we do in Fairy Tail... that's what it means to be alive; to be truly free. So, _live_. Live, and have hope."

She felt something, then, in that power pressing against hers: a fluctuation, or perhaps it was doubt.

As soon as she realized that, her concentration faltered. Her barrier began to fracture. "Sorry," Levy whispered. "Erza…"

The beam of energy punched a hole through the clouds in its path. An instant before it reached her, there was a blur of movement and a shadow jumped in front of her, taking the brunt of the attack. She fought her way through the fading light and grabbed him as he fell. "Gajeel!" she demanded in shock. "You…"

His eyes were closed but he forced them open at the sound of her voice. "Figured if I tagged along I'd find a way to pay you back for what I did to you when I was with Phantom Lord… Guess I got my chance."

"Gajeel!" she yelled. The iron scales covering his skin had fused together under the intensity of the beam; they had probably saved his life. They slowly dissolved into light, revealing the true extent of the damage done underneath. Levy's next shout came out as more of a hiccup. "I told you, I'd already forgiven you for that… you idiot…"

Gajeel managed a weak laugh. "I've fought more members of Fairy Tail since joining your guild that I ever did as your enemy. So hurry up and save Erza already, so I can get back to fighting bad guys."

She placed him gently on the floor. "We will. Don't worry."

"No," Gray interrupted coldly. "I'm sorry, Gajeel, all of you – but this is over." If Jellal was hesitating, then he had to be the one to act. He plunged his hand into what remained of Levy's cloud barrier. "Ice Make: Blizzard!"

Immediately the cloud words turned grey as the water inside them froze. Frantic, Levy tried to cancel the spell, but it was no longer under her control. Icicles hung down from the letters, lending them a comical appearance which belied the awesome power of the magic building up inside. Rapid changes in the air temperature sent ferocious blasts of wind tearing through the room. A thin sheet of ice covered the floor; frost crept across their exposed hands and faces. Shards of deadly ice swirled amongst the enormous snowflakes within the clouds, clamouring to be released.

Gray was on the verge on unleashing the storm when he felt something anomalous flicker across his senses. Caution caused him to hesitate. An instant later a bolt of lightning shot down from the ceiling and smashed into the floor, sending shockwaves racing through the entire Tower.

Freed would recognize that magic anywhere. "Laxus!" he cried joyfully.

But Laxus was not smiling as he slowly stood up, lightning crackling all over his body. "What the hell is going on here? I leave my guild alone for half a day, and you're already at each other's throats? Funny, I distinctly remember you all getting mad at me when _I_ made you fight each other."

He turned towards Gray, as if noticing the dangerous magic he held in his hands for the first time. His eyes narrowed; an unspoken warning. Gray did not back down. Unimpressed, Laxus growled, "There's no sun in this building, Gray. Do you really want to go one on one with me without your death ray to back you up?"

Gray risked a glance at Jellal. The other was clearly ready to spring into action at any moment, not knowing whether this newcomer was a friend or a foe. It was evident from the small shake of his head, however, that he did not fancy their chances against Laxus in their current state. Besides, Gray hadn't come here to fight against his own Guild Master. Heaving a sigh, Gray allowed the blizzard to disperse. "I don't want to fight _anyone_ in my guild," he said.

"You sure chose an interesting way of expressing that sentiment," replied Laxus coolly, his gaze drifting to the unconscious Gajeel and the two unlikely teams still ranged against each other.

"I _know_ that! But we don't have time for this! Etherion is going to fire at any minute-"

"No, it's not."

The certainty in Laxus's voice gave Gray pause. "How are you so sure?"

"I've just come from the Magic Council. Mira and the old man are taking care of it. So stop fighting amongst yourselves, and someone tell me what the hell is going on here."

Jellal told their side of the story – how Erza had been possessed by a deadly evil and now intended to sacrifice Natsu to resurrect Zeref and plunge the word into darkness when Etherion fired. Natsu had tried to talk some sense into her, and now he was in critical condition. He omitted the part about Simon's death. Gray thought this was a little odd, but he couldn't fully bring himself to believe that Etherion wasn't going to fire when he could still sense it turning overhead, and they were running out of time. Jellal's frustration at being kept here was evident; perhaps he had decided that the death of a complete stranger wouldn't affect members of Fairy Tail as strongly as her treatment of Natsu would. Whatever the reason, however, Erza couldn't be saved. All they could do now was stop her from going any further.

Freed told his and Levy's side – they believed that Erza could be saved via Changeling if they could only get through to her. No, they hadn't seen what she had done, but they sure as hell weren't going to stand by and let anyone try to kill their fellow guild member and friend.

Laxus listened to both sides with unusual patience. Perhaps he was trying his hardest to be a good leader in this crisis. It infuriated Gray no end, though. Just as he was wondering whether they should gamble on Jellal's Meteor being faster than Laxus's lightning form and run for it, Laxus spoke.

"The way I see it, we don't know if Erza can be saved," he began darkly. "If she can't, we'll have to kill her, for the sake of the world. We're probably going to have to fight our friend." His eyes flashed. "But let's at least try saving her first!"

"But if Etherion fires-" Gray protested.

"Etherion won't fire. The old man gave me his word. What part of that do you not understand?"

"Even if the world isn't in danger, Erza still can't be saved."

"So you're not even going to try? You're going to give up on a friend just like that? And there I was thinking that the whole point of Fairy Tail was that we were supposed to look out for each other. I'd never have agreed to stay on as Master if I'd known you were all going to fall apart the moment a crisis arose."

"I-"

Somehow, Laxus's blunt scorn was worse to him than Levy's sorrow; hit harder than even the thought of fighting his friends. It was because Laxus understood, wasn't it? Laxus had whole-heartedly believed that the only way to move forwards was to fight against his fellow guild members, and now, having fully accepted how wrong he had been, he was moving forward and trying to be the best Master he could be for them, so that no one else had to make the same mistake. Wasn't it alright for him to do the same? Wasn't it okay to have hope?

"Maybe trying to kill Erza was the only choice back then, but now that Etherion isn't going to fire, this so-called R-System won't activate no matter what. It's okay to admit you were wrong and move on. I sure won't hold it against you. I owe Erza for that one as well."

There were suddenly tears in his eyes, tears of desperation and grief. Furiously, he blinked them away. He tried to speak and found that he couldn't.

"I told you to bring her home, Gray," Laxus was saying, misinterpreting his silence as resentment. "Do I have to do _everything_ in this guild myself?"

"No. I'll come with you."

"Can you still fight?"

"Yes." This time, Gray's voice was stronger.

"Okay." Laxus turned to the others.

"I'm going to take Gajeel back to the ship," said Levy. With what little magic she had left, she was well aware that she would only slow them down.

Freed told Laxus, "I'm coming with you."

To his surprise, Laxus shook his head. "Go with Levy."

"But-"

"From what I gather, this thing possessing Erza is a demonic entity of great power. If we go up there, there's every chance that we might be the ones who don't come back. In that case, it'll be up to you to make sure everyone who is hurt gets safely back to the guild."

Freed nodded. His disappointment at not being able to fight was nothing compared to his trust in Laxus. "Fine, but you'd better not lose."

Gray, however, felt a stab of alarm at Laxus's words. With him on their side, he had had no doubt whatsoever that they would be able to win, so the fact that the usually-arrogant Laxus was treating defeat as a very real possibility wasn't reassuring. Of course, it was only yesterday that Laxus had been thoroughly beaten by their guild. He couldn't possibly have recovered fully since then, neither in terms of magic power nor physical fitness – not to mention how much magic he had burnt up travelling to the Tower…

Gray clenched his fist. No. He couldn't consider losing as a possibility. After what Laxus had just told him, he had to have hope. They would win. They would bring Erza back. They were Fairy Tail, and so they would overcome everything that the world could throw at them.

"I don't know who the hell you are," Laxus was saying to Jellal, impatiently. "Though you look an awful lot like that man from the Council."

"I _am_ him," came Jellal's quiet response. "Sort of. It's complicated."

"I also don't really care. If you're strong, then come with us."

"I don't think I'll be much use." Not after he had given that last fight everything he had.

"No, you have to come," Gray told him, and even he was surprised by how certain he felt. "If any of us can get through to Erza, it's you. You're the only one who knows what she's going through. You have to say to her the words that no one said to you eight years ago, isn't that right?"

Jellal's eyes widened. "But… I can't…"

"You told me that you loved her," Gray interrupted darkly. "If you really meant that, then go and bring her back."

"I… I'll do what I can."

"Then let's go."

They split up. Levy and Freed carried Gajeel down to where their boat was waiting. Laxus, Jellal and Gray ran upwards to the top of the Tower one final time – to where Erza awaited them.

* * *

 _This is where it all began. And this is where it will end._

Jellal returned to the room at the top of the Tower a completely different person to how he had left it. Though the long battles he had already fought that day had weakened him, he was also stronger than he had ever been, because his power was entirely his own.

His choices too had been his own. He had allies by his side. Gray was the closest thing he had had to a friend in eight years. It didn't matter that they had only met that day; they completely understood each other. He had fought a lot of strangers today, and though he had always fought to win, he hadn't fought to kill. He had chosen life – not just for his opponents, but for himself as well.

With the confirmation that Etherion would not fire, Laxus had convinced him that it was alright to have hope. With Gray's acceptance of him, he dared to think that he might be able to start a new life in the light after all. He didn't have to end everything here with Erza. If Levy still believed, then so could he. Perhaps it was naïve to blindly hope that Erza could be dragged from the darkness, but wasn't it better to give everything he had in pursuit of that hope, rather than rolling over and accepting whatever cruel hand fate had dealt them?

What he needed wasn't the resolve to kill Erza and himself, but to stand up for the future he wanted, no matter what. The members of Fairy Tail that he had fought against had taught him that resolve; had passed it on to him. Even if he wasn't part of their guild, he would fight on their behalf, for the future that they had dared to dream about when all seemed lost.

 _We're going home together. All of us. Even you, Erza._

It waited in the light of the giant crystal, that hideous thing wearing Erza's form. Natsu's body was nowhere to be seen. That had to be a good sign. If one of the other Fairy Tail mages had found him and taken him back to the boat, they might be able to get him the medical attention he needed before it was too late. At the very least, it was something he didn't have to worry about for the time being.

The three of them approached through the pulsing light and the sickly warm air. "It's over," Jellal spoke solemnly. "You know that the Council will not use Etherion. The Tower has been abandoned. There is no way that you can win. Give Erza back."

She just smiled. "I _am_ Erza-"

Laxus had had enough. He wasn't one for words at the best of times, and he had certainly not raced all the way here from the Council just to listen to another pointless back-and-forth discussion. Gray had forgotten just how fast he was; one moment Laxus was stood at his side, and the next he was right in front of Erza, striking her with a powerful punch charged with electricity. "No, you're not. I refuse to believe that you're the one who defeated me in the Battle of Fairy Tail. She led the guild to victory because everyone believed in her. You could never even begin to understand that power."

Erza flew through the air, flipped around, and landed in a crouch, skidding a metre or two back along the floor. She Requipped a sword into her hand but before she had the chance to use it, an arrow of ice tore it from her grasp. "My Erza gets mad every time I fight with Natsu," Gray told her firmly. "She would never condone fighting her own friends like this. When she can't protect the people she cares about, she gets upset. Sure, she's bossy and blissfully, infuriatingly naïve, and sure, she drives me crazy at times, but Fairy Tail just won't be the same without her. We're taking Erza back home."

"You can try." She Requipped her Black Wing Armour and rushed towards Gray. Startled that she had gone for him rather than for Laxus, the closest opponent, he was too slow in summoning a shield.

But he wasn't fighting alone any more either. The three of them may have been unlikely allies, but their shared desire to protect Erza transcended everything else. Jellal flung a beam of celestial light towards her which knocked her blade aside before it could touch Gray. At the same time, Laxus had switched to his lightning form in order to pursue her. Paralyzing bursts of electricity erupted along her skin as he shot through her and returned to his physical form. Landing on one leg, he pivoted easily and drove his other foot into her chest with all his momentum behind it, smashing her into the wall.

A tremor ran through the entire Tower, and a sickening jolt of worry matched it in Gray's heart. "Careful!" he shouted to Laxus. He had only just dared to accept that it might be possible to win without killing Erza – what would be the point if Laxus went overboard here and did it by accident?

But Laxus just glanced at him in annoyance. He knew the limits of his power, and besides, he could sense the subtle dark magic reinforcing and regenerating Erza's body, even if Gray couldn't. She wouldn't go down so easily.

Sure enough, she got to her feet amidst the smoking ruins of the wall. Her armour was cracked in several places, but it had done its job; she Requipped her Heaven's Wheel Armour instead and stepped forwards.

"She's not listening to us, is she?" Gray asked, feeling his hopes dim once again. "We're going to have to fight to win."

"No." Surprised, he glanced at Jellal, but the other's dark eyes were earnest. "She went after you because she perceived you to be the biggest threat. That meant you were getting through to the real Erza."

"You think-"

"I think that there's a chance the others were right. If we can make Erza listen to us, then we can force this Changeling spell to break the hold that thing has on her. It knows that. That's why it panicked and went for you. We have to fight – so that we can force her to listen."

Gray grinned, placing his fist against his palm. "Now that's something I understand. All our communication is done like this in Fairy Tail! Let's get her back!"

Erza shot towards them, blades in hand. Gray and Jellal split up to dodge. Swords controlled by her telekinetic abilities danced towards Gray, which he deflected easily with a large shield. Her real target, however, was Jellal. A streak of white energy extended the length of her blades, letting her slash him despite his best efforts to throw himself aside.

Whether through chance or design, it was a lucky hit, tearing open the wound Gray had given him earlier. The magic he had been summoning to his palms died instantly. Clutching at his side as if he could stop the bleeding with his hand alone, he staggered backwards.

Gray ran over to him. He was ready to protect both of them if he needed to, but fortunately Laxus was diverting Erza's attention away from them with a barrage of physical attacks that she couldn't afford not to focus on. "Are you alright?" he asked Jellal.

It was a stupid question, and he fully deserved the annoyed glance he got in return. "Just focus on Erza."

In a short-range fight, Erza had the clear advantage with her twin blades; step by step, she was pushing Laxus back as he struggled to stay clear of their bite. A flash of inspiration came to Gray. "Laxus!" he yelled, creating a blade of ice and throwing it across.

Laxus caught it without even looking, using it to block a slash aiming for his neck. It was harder for Gray to keep his creation frozen when he wasn't holding onto it – and in the unnatural heat beneath the storm, the best he could do was slow down the rate at which it was melting – but seeing the sparks that danced of their own accord at Laxus's fingers, he couldn't help wondering if the lightning mage could use that to his advantage.

Even the best weapon in the world couldn't have bridged the gap in swordplay skills between the two of them, however. She effortlessly parried his strike with one of her swords and swept the other round towards his unguarded side. Laxus chose that moment to send as much electricity as possible into his right hand. It raced up the thin layer of water coating the edge of the ice sword, down Erza's own perfectly conducting blade, and tore through her body. She was thrown back with a sharp crack; once again, Laxus didn't wait for her to land before appearing behind her in a burst of sparks and kicking her brutally down into the floor.

He knelt over her, preventing her from getting up. The air around him thrummed with raw magic. "For someone who fought so hard to make me stay on as Guild Master, you've gone to a hell of a lot of trouble to make my first proper day on the job as difficult as possible," he snapped. "Is this how Fairy Tail's hero should be behaving, Erza?"

He saw something shift in her eyes and loosened his grip slightly. "The guild followed you back then because they believed in you. Not in Titania, but in _you_. The guild's going to be a real pain to deal with if you don't come back with me-"

Gray sensed the change in the room immediately. He began to run even though he knew he wouldn't make it in time, shouting a wordless plea to Jellal. He had noticed too, and was running of his own accord towards Laxus. The sudden pain of motion overwhelmed everything, yet he somehow managed to get Meteor active in between steps; his desperation smashed any previous record for the activation time of that spell. Without it, he would never have had the strength to drag Laxus away from Erza with one hand – and the bolt of darkness which tore a hole in the roof and the storm clouds beyond it would have gone straight through Laxus's heart instead.

Meteor flickered and died almost immediately, sending the two of them sprawling to the ground. With a grunt of thanks, Laxus sprung to his feet. Jellal, by contrast, struggled to stand. That spell was not designed to be switched on and off. His body had not fully adjusted to it being active before it had vanished, and now it didn't know how to react. Spasms ran through him; his legs collapsed beneath him; a wave of blood surged forth from the wound in his side.

And Erza wasn't about to give him a moment's rest. She clapped her hands together. At the sound, the shadows seemed to detach from the floor, rising up out of the ground to take on hideous living forms. They converged upon Laxus and Jellal. Their stunted limbs reached out for flesh; their burning red eyes, the same blood-like colour as the runes glowing up and down their dark bodies, yearned to consume life.

Gray smashed half a dozen of them apart with flying shards of ice, while a large arc of electricity tore through the rest of them. Yet no matter how many of the abominations they destroyed, there were always more, reforming endlessly from the darkness in that place. Erza floated above the ground, surrounded by a halo of swords. Gray scowled; although he could dodge them easily, he knew she knew that, and was preparing to throw them at Laxus while he was distracted. If the Dragon Slayer moved, Jellal would be completely vulnerable.

Thinking quickly, Gray formed a small ice lens above his palm, flashing the light from the central crystal into Erza's eyes. Temporarily blinded, the blades she threw went wide. Laxus broke through the wave of shadow constructs around him with a burst of sparks. He gathered crackling energy around his right arm and flung it towards Erza in retaliation.

"Requip!" she snapped. A split-second later she was dressed in her Lightning Empress Armour, holding a long spear in both hands. She wielded it like a staff, re-directing the lightning towards Gray. He jumped aside with a curse.

Bringing her hands together, she commanded the shadows to surge forward once again. They tightened like serpents around Laxus's wrists and ankles, dragging him to his knees. Gritting his teeth against the pain which seemed to burn through to his bones, he tried to force electricity to charge up in his body – but nothing happened. His magic would not come to him. He looked up at Erza, horrified. This was not her power; this was the magic of whatever demonic creature was controlling her.

She laughed, and it was a heart-wrenching sound. "Now do you see how futile it is?" she mocked them. "I have power now. I never have to be weak or dependent on anyone else ever again!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Gray yelled. While she had been focussed on Laxus, he had crept up behind her. A small flight of ice stairs carried him up to her level; before she could react to the danger, he struck her with a fist covered in ice. "Since when did being strong become more important to you than your guild; your family? No one cares whether or not you can Requip or fight or use magic or go on S-Class Quests or lead the guild or any of that – the important thing is that you're Erza, and nothing in the world will ever change that, least of all something stupid like Changeling! You're Erza Scarlet! No one who's met you could ever forget that, and neither should you! So hurry up and remember who you are, Erza!"

She landed easily. The spear in her hands vanished as she Requipped an enormous two-handed mace. She swung it straight at Gray, smashing him across to the other side of the room. Their attacks hadn't rattled her in the slightest; it was his words she was responding to. "You'd never understand!" she screamed at him.

"Is that so?" Jellal asked quietly. The question was rhetorical; he answered it himself, his voice growing stronger with every word. "Do you really think there is anything going through your head right now that I don't understand? I spent eight years standing where you are right now. I know that loneliness. I know that pain. And I know that there is a way out!"

Somehow Jellal was standing. His left hand, soaked in his own dark blood, was still pressed against his side. Around his right hand shone a nimbus of white light. His magic flashed once, twice; the shadows binding Laxus shrieked and dissolved back into nothing. Fearless, Jellal challenged, "Do you want me to tell you exactly how you are feeling right now?"

Erza's anger sent tremors through the air. She summoned a spear into her outstretched hand and threw it unerringly towards Jellal. Lightning-fast, Laxus caught it in one hand as it shot past him and snapped it in two. He understood what he had to do: protect the others. It wasn't about beating Erza, but about keeping Gray and Jellal alive long enough for them to save her.

Jellal continued, "For me, it happened in a moment of madness. They tortured me and broke my spirit and in the instant when I abandoned the hope that anyone was coming to save me, I gave in to the darkness. You were no different. You came to me in despair. Just for one awful moment, when no one was around to reassure you, you believed that you couldn't go on unless you were yourself again, with your power and your armour and your control over your emotions, am I right? It wasn't a logical decision. We all act irrationally in the heat of the moment, and that one moment, when you were prepared to do _anything_ to get your old body back, was all it needed to seize control of you."

"So?" she taunted.

"The thing is, you know that," was Jellal's steady reply. "You know you made the wrong decision back then. You don't want to carry on along this path; you want to come back with us. You're just too afraid to say it."

Erza stilled. For a moment, Jellal felt a flicker of hope. "Is this really what you want?" he asked her. "Or are you only doing it because you feel as though you have no other choice?"

The briefest flash of Requip was the only warning they got. He caught a glimpse of cheetah-patterned fur and then she was on him like the wild beast whose power it symbolized, sword reaching for his throat. He was not afraid. For the first time in eight years, he was not alone.

Gray parried the blow with a blade of ice. Erza had anticipated this, however. Sonic reverberations ran along her blade, shattering his crystal into pieces. He dived aside just in time and the blow which might have killed him skated along his shoulder blade instead. Using the opening, Laxus kicked her from behind. Between his hands he generated an orb of crackling white lightning and flung it towards her.

In an instant the elaborate Lightning Empress spear was in her hands again. It absorbed the electricity harmlessly and she span around, releasing it in a burst towards Gray. As shivers of pain ran through his body, he found the energy to yell, "Laxus, enough of the lightning already!"

"Quit getting in my way," Laxus retorted. "I'll-"

Maybe he was going to order Gray to leave the rest of the fighting to him. Maybe he was going to suggest using his Dragon Slayer powers, in the hope that her armour, even enhanced with the dark magic of whatever was possessing her, wouldn't be able to control that. But they would never find out, because at that moment Erza pressed her palm to Laxus's chest and released an intense beam of black energy.

A shockwave ran through the entire room. Cracks raced up and down the walls; the crystal in the centre of the room snapped in two, leaving deadly sword-like fragments pointing towards the ceiling. Laxus fell without a sound.

Too stunned even to call out, Gray could only stare in horror. Laxus wasn't... he _couldn't_ be... Gray shook his head firmly. No, of course he wasn't. Laxus wouldn't be defeated so easily - how many times had they had to knock him down just the previous day before he stopped getting back up? His Erza, who had orchestrated the plan which had defeated Laxus during the Battle of Fairy Tail, wouldn't have taken her eyes off his seemingly-unconscious form for a second, but it wasn't his Erza that they were fighting. The thing controlling her made mistakes that she would never have made. And that might just be the opening they needed.

Indeed, it was almost with pride that Erza let her Lightning Empress gear vanish as she turned back towards Jellal. "See?" she demanded, pleased with herself. "I have power now. I don't have to let the past hold me back. I can go where I want – I can do whatever I want! I am finally free!"

"That's true. You're more powerful than you have ever been, and with that, you can choose your own path through this world. If you managed to resurrect Zeref, you'd have absolute freedom."

"Then-"

"But there's one thing that you'd never be able to have. You could never return to Fairy Tail. This path on which you walk will take you anywhere but there."

"I don't care."

He just shook his head. "I have fought against many of your friends today, Erza, and all of them were willing to sacrifice everything for your sake. You know this in your heart, don't you? You want to go back with them more than anything, but that path is no longer open to you, because of what you have done; what you have become. That's why you're running away, and refusing to hear our voices. You know it's wrong, but you don't have a choice. Aren't I right?"

She said nothing.

"I know I'm right, because I was the same. Oh, there were times when I wanted to abandon the Tower and join you, living out the life of freedom we had both dreamed of when we were slaves. But it was impossible, after the choices I had made. That life was no longer open to me. So those times quickly went by. If my past forbade me from reaching the future I wanted the most, then I would use my power to resurrect Zeref, and shape a new world for myself. That was the only chance I had left at happiness. I didn't have a choice, just the same as you."

"So what?" she snarled. "That doesn't change anything! It just makes it all the more certain that things will end this way!"

Jellal smiled, closing his eyes. "No. Because you _do_ have a choice. It is within your power to take back the future you desire."

"You're lying."

They were stood only inches away from each other. The rest of the world – their enemies, their allies, Etherion – had ceased to exist; there was only the two of them. "It was when you came to me of your own accord. You remember, don't you? It was because you trusted me. It was because you could look at everything that I had done to you and the people you loved, and still find the kindness to forgive me. That was when I realized that I could turn my back on everything I had done and move on with you, towards the future I had always dreamed of. You were the miracle I didn't deserve, Erza. You saved me. And if someone like me could be saved, then so can you."

"Shut up-" But she couldn't stop the words that drew blood more effectively than the sharpest knife, just as she couldn't stop that part of her which fought with all its will to listen.

"It won't be easy. If you open up to what you have done, all the pain your hatred has been keeping at bay will come flooding back. It'll hurt so much, I know. But you can do it, Erza. Look around at those you have hurt and realize the foolishness of your actions. Admit it to be a mistake, beg for forgiveness, and cry without end for your sins. And then go and join the people who are waiting for you. As long as you have the courage, it is never too late to change. Let's leave our past buried in the ruins of the Tower and move on."

"It's impossible!" she screamed. "This is over!"

And to prove her point, she summoned a sword to her hand and pierced Jellal through the chest.

His eyes widened. The tip of the blade protruded from his back. A bubble of blood burst upon his lips.

Laughing wildly, Erza staggered backwards, pulling her weapon free. "See?" she howled, with maniacal glee. "There's no going back! Only darkness awaits – for me, and for this whole hateful world!"

"Goddamn it, Erza!" Gray screamed. "Can't you see we're trying to help you?" As her expression darkened, he ran at her, pushing her away from Jellal. She slashed round with the sword, fully intending to kill him. She might have managed it as well, if a bolt of lightning hadn't lifted her straight off her feet.

Gray had barely registered the enormous surge of magic power in the room before Laxus raced by him in lightning form. For a moment, there were two afterimages superimposed on his vision – the black of the deepest shadows, and the blazing gold of a lightning strike, entwined together – and then Laxus struck Erza in an explosion bright enough to blind him. Squinting desperately, he fought to keep his eyes open and see what was going on.

Laxus held Erza up against the crystal in the centre of the room. His hand was wrapped around her neck, but that wasn't what was trapping her there – he had impaled her on one of its fractured spikes. Darkness bubbled like liquid around the lacrima shard emerging from her body, keeping her alive while trying to close the wound with its unnatural power. If Laxus wasn't holding her there, she would probably already have recovered.

As if on cue, he cast Jellal an angry glance. "Aren't you going to finish this?"

Those words broke through the miasma of darkness in Jellal's mind and he latched onto them like a lifeline. He began to walk forwards. It didn't even hurt; he was far beyond pain by now. He would be dead, were it not for the incredible magic power burning within him, keeping him alive against all odds through sheer strength of will. He knew he couldn't hold out for long. But if he let that blissful unconsciousness take him, he would never wake up again – so he _had_ to keep fighting. He had to stay alive. Just for a few more minutes.

"Erza," he whispered as he approached. "It doesn't matter what you do to us. We won't give up. We're all going home together. Isn't that what you want?"

He dimly heard a door slamming open against the wall. He saw them out of the corner of his eye – more of Erza's friends, running into the room. The blonde girl from earlier; the Erza who wasn't Erza. Just in time. They were screaming out her name.

"Can't you hear them calling you, Erza? It's time to come back."

A single tear ran down the side of her face. "I can't," she murmured. "I can't go back after what I've done. I can't. I can't. I can't-"

A gentle smile. And such warmth, as she had never known existed before that day. "No matter how much you hate yourself, there is always someone who loves you more. No matter how bad things get, there will always be someone who chooses to walk beside you. You will always have a place to return to." He held out his hand to her. "There are people waiting for you, Erza. Let's go home."

It had begun in a moment of madness, and it ended no differently. Just for an instant, she trusted him once again, and she too dared to believe the impossible. She took his hand.

 _There_ , Jellal thought. _I finally got to be the one to save you_.

People were shouting and lights were flashing and magic surrounded him and maybe even the world was ending, but he no longer cared about any of that. The waves of night rose up around him and he went to meet them gladly.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Okay, so I did enjoy writing that final battle a bit, I'll admit. I love writing Gray in a support role. I mean, he's still one of the strongest individual combatants and is more than capable of winning most fights on his own, but I think that it's when he's acting as support that he really shines. Anyone can be strong, but not many people can fight so effectively alongside others. Plus, getting to write Laxus again in a proper fight (rather than a full raid) was unexpectedly fun. And, in unifying his guild and bringing them all in line, he finally got to act as a proper leader. Yay! It's kind of a shame that I never got to write Jellal fighting at full power, but that's my fault for setting up the arc as I did rather than just leaving him as the final boss. __Speaking of which, I totally didn't come up with the entire plot of this arc just so that I could get my three favourite characters fighting on the same side in the final battle. Nooooo, that's definitely not the sort of thing I would do..._

 _In other news, next week is the final chapter! I'm excited. I can't wait to have my Sunday evenings back. Anyway, thanks for reading! Hopefully, I'll see you next week for the story's conclusion! ~CS_


	25. At the Break of Day

_**A/N:** Final chapter! Yay! Time to tie up all the loose ends (or as many of them as I can remember exist) and bring the story hopefully back in line with the canon route before the end... ~CS_

* * *

 **Rise Up Once More**

By CrimsonStarbird

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Five: At the Break of Day**

Gray descended slowly into the bowels of the ship. As the floor swayed beneath him, he was forced to grasp the wooden handrail for support. Transportation had never been an issue for him, not even seasickness, but exhaustion and injury had left him light-headed and uncertain on his feet. He had to wonder, as the pitching of the ship sent another wave of discomfort through him, if this was how Natsu always felt. Then the distant sound of someone throwing up reached his ears, and he couldn't help smiling. No, he didn't have it anywhere near as bad as Natsu did, and for that he would be eternally grateful.

He found the door he wanted easily – it was the one with two Rune Knights standing outside. He wondered if they were going to stop him, but to his surprise they simply nodded to him and stepped aside. Feeling a little awkward, he thanked them and pushed the door open.

The cabin beyond was dark. The light lacrima embedded in the ceiling was inactive; instead, a single porthole let a fraction of the sky's fiery light into the room. After his eyes had adjusted, Gray cast a brief glance around. Everything was as he had been told, save for one thing out of place: only one of the two beds in the centre of the room was occupied. He felt a stab of alarm, which vanished just as quickly as he realized how stupid it was – there was no way Jellal would leave while Erza was still here. She looked so peaceful in her sleep. Seeing her there safe with them brought a smile to his face.

Squinting through the half-light, he searched for Jellal and found him sat in the shadows beside the round window. He had clearly been gazing out at the waves before; now, he was watching Gray carefully, his eyes glittering in the orange light. When he noticed Gray had seen him, a faint smile crossed his face. Gray took that as an invitation to speak.

"You're alive, then," he remarked, trying to sound a lot less relieved than he felt.

"Just about. Where are we?"

"On one of the Magic Council's ships. They picked us up just as we were leaving the Tower. It's a good job they did. Their medics treated you while you were unconscious; I thought that you were dead for sure." Jellal nodded once. His expression was difficult to read. Gray continued, "They said that you're lucky to be alive. If that blade had gone in a centimetre further left, you'd have died instantly."

"Luck has nothing to do with it. Erza is far too good a swordswoman to miss a blow like that." He glanced across to where she lay sleeping, and his eyes came alive with fondness. "She fought against the thing controlling her and saved my life."

 _That, and the wonders of modern medical technology,_ Gray thought, but Jellal looked happy, so he kept it to himself.

"What about everyone else?" Jellal asked, an anxious note creeping into his voice. "Natsu – the other Dragon Slayers – the letter mages –"

"Everyone's alive. They'll recover in time. Levy and Freed are fine; Gajeel's in a stable condition and will make a full recovery. Laxus – well, I swear he's immortal. Having that much magic power is just unfair. Then, since Changeling was broken, Happy has been a lot more cheerful. And even Natsu is conscious – though by the sounds of things, he wishes he wasn't." He grinned a little at this, and then laughed outright at Jellal's look of confusion. "He'll be fine once he gets back on solid ground, don't worry."

"Good."

Gray thought he understood. "The battle's over now. No one from Fairy Tail blames you or Erza. These things happen. Well, okay, Gajeel blames you a bit, but that's only because you went for Levy. Though given how their first encounter involved him beating up her and her friends and stringing them up in a tree, he sure can be hypocritical at times. We-"

He broke off when he realized that he wasn't helping. Jellal was sat staring at his hand, his face a mask. It made Gray long for Natsu's straightforward confrontational manner. At least it was easy to tell what his rival was thinking, even if most of the time he really didn't want to know.

Changing the subject abruptly, he tried, "Apparently we're going to make port near Akane in half an hour or so. I imagine the Council will be sending a welcome party," he added dryly. "What are you going to do when all this is over?"

Jellal shot him a bemused look. "I can't imagine the Council will leave me with much choice."

"Ah." Of course. What was he thinking? That they'd all just be able to go home together, as if none of this had ever happened? Jellal had known the truth all along. Even when he was speaking to Erza, even when he was promising her that they would be able to go home together, he knew that all he was really doing was sacrificing his own freedom for hers.

"You could run," Gray said, impulsively. "You could deal with those guards easily, and with your magic, they'd never be able to catch you."

There was a look of genuine surprise on Jellal's face; upon realizing that Gray was serious, it evolved into laughter. "That's completely out of the question, the way I am now. How do you expect me to fight when I don't even have enough power left to activate a lacrima? Besides," he said, returning once more to his usual, serious tone, "If I leave, it will only cause more trouble for everyone. I've hurt enough people already. I won't run from what I've done."

"But it's not fair!" Gray exclaimed.

"Fairy Tail is in enough trouble as it is," Jellal reprimanded him. "Encouraging me to break the law is hardly going to endear you to the Magic Council."

"But… you and Erza-"

"If Erza is alive and happy, then that's enough for me. I would gladly have given my life to save her. A lifetime of imprisonment is nothing."

How could Gray argue with that sincerity? "You're so single-minded," he muttered. "It's embarrassing just being around you."

Jellal seemed to take that as a compliment. How could the man who masterminded the whole Tower of Heaven project be so infuriatingly, wonderfully innocent? A ghost of a smile flickered across Jellal's face, but something shifted in his eyes; something that didn't quite match it. Gray was coming to know that man too well, and it made him wonder.

Fortunately, he was saved from having to say anything by a movement from the bed. Erza was stirring. Jellal was on his feet instantly, forgetting, in his haste, his own injuries. Sighing, Gray caught him before he could fall and helped him hobble across the room.

Erza was struggling to sit up. "Erza!" Gray shouted, grinning.

"Gray…?" she murmured. Her gaze fell upon the man stood next to him and her eyes opened wide. "Jellal!" Then happiness became confusion, and confusion resolved into fear. "Jellal…? What are you-? Gray, what…?"

"It's alright, Erza," Gray reassured her. There were multiple meanings encoded in that simple phrase: that they weren't enemies; that it was okay for her not to hate Jellal; that she could trust what her feelings were telling her. Seeing his strong friend so vulnerable should have been heart-wrenching, but after everything they had been through, just to have her with them at all was a miracle.

"What happened?" she whispered. "How did I get here?"

"What do you remember?" came Jellal's cautious response.

"I… I don't know." She held her head in her hands. "I remember flying to the Tower of Heaven. I remember seeing old friends… Sho… Millianna… Simon… but I ran from them and entered the room at the top of the Tower and you were there and then… I don't know. Everything is just… dark." A note of horror entered her voice. "I feel like I did something terrible. I feel…"

"It's alright, Erza," Jellal told her. "It's over now. It's all over. We're going to go home, okay?"

"Okay." She tried to smile but it came out all wrong. "Gray, what are you doing here?"

"We came after you. Without you, Fairy Tail's strongest team was reduced to rounding up stray sheep and we just couldn't let that stand, so we had to get you back as soon as possible."

"I made everyone worry about me, didn't I? I shouldn't have run off without saying anything." A frown crossed her face. "Why do I feel like Natsu is in danger…?"

"He was in danger for a while, but he pulled through; you know how stubborn he is. Apart from the usual torture that is having to watch Natsu on any form of transportation, he's fine. And even then I got the impression that he was getting a good laugh out of the fact that Gajeel was in the same boat – in more ways than one."

"Gajeel's here too?"

"And Levy, and Freed, and even Laxus is around somewhere. It just wasn't the same in the guild without you. We all came to bring you back."

"I've… I've been so stupid, haven't I?"

"Well, now that Changeling has been undone, you can go back to striking terror into the hearts of everyone in the guild once again."

"Is Happy…?"

Gray smiled. "Since he got his old body back, I don't think he's touched the ground once. It was fun being you, but he'd much rather be able to fly, I think. Besides, he's been showing everyone this new trick where he can Requip different kinds of fish from his bag without looking-"

Erza laughed, and her laugh became a choke. There were tears streaming unchecked down her cheeks. "Why am I crying? What… what have I done?"

No longer able to just stand by and watch her sorrow, Jellal wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. She hesitated, but she could not hold back her emotions, and before she knew it she was crying her eyes out into his chest. "It's over now," he told her gently. "Everything will be alright, I promise."

"Yeah," she sniffed. Her trembling eased; she let herself trust those strong arms which held and protected her. Jellal's gaze flickered across to Gray's, who understood. They couldn't not tell her what had happened in the Tower of Heaven – she would find out eventually. But even so, Jellal would keep that promise. He would ensure that she was alright, no matter what.

Just as Gray was thinking that it might be a good time for him to leave, there came the unmistakeable sound of footsteps tearing down the corridor outside. Someone yelled futilely, "You can't go in there!" – just as the door crashed open and three people burst inside.

"Erza!" they yelled in unison. Jellal backed off respectfully as Sho, Millianna and Wally threw themselves at Erza, crying and laughing and hugging her and each other in glee. Her face lit up with pure happiness. That was it – the wonderful smile that Gray had worried he would never get to see again.

"You're all alright," Erza laughed. "I'm so glad."

Millianna spoke for all of them. "Erza, we're sorry for not believing in you all these years. We should have known that you would never have willingly abandoned us in the Tower. And I'm sorry… for what I did to you…"

Erza gave a vehement shake of her head. "No, it is I who should apologize. I should never have left you alone for so long."

"As long as you were happy, that was enough for us. It was better than all of us being imprisoned in that place. I hear you joined a guild and everything!"

"Yes, Fairy Tail."

"That's so cool," Sho grinned.

"But you all learnt to use magic as well, right? Why don't you join a guild? You could come to Fairy Tail!" The three of them exchanged glances. Erza's smile faltered.

"Maybe, one day," replied Millianna, with a reassuring smile. "But first we're going to travel around the world. I don't remember anything from before I was brought to the Tower, so I want to see what the outside world is really like. That will be our adventure."

"Then I wish you the best of luck."

"I'm sure we'll meet again someday."

"I hope so," Erza said. There were tears shining in her eyes once again, but they were a sign of happiness; of life.

While Erza said her farewell to the boys, Millianna turned to Jellal. Her feline eyes narrowed; he met that accusing glare steadily, without aggression. She said, "I hate you. I really, really hate you." She took a deep breath and let it out again. "But, they tell me that you saved Erza's life, so… I guess I'll have to let you go, just this once."

Jellal said nothing. Perhaps it was his way of being confrontational. Perhaps he just didn't know what to say.

To Sho and Wally, she said, "I don't think we should be down here, so we should probably get back up on deck before they send the soldiers after us. We just wanted to check that you were alright, Erza. We'll definitely see you before you go."

"Good." She waved to them as they headed for the door. Millianna's hand was on the door handle when a frown crossed Erza's face. "Hang on. Where's Simon? I swear I saw him in the Tower – isn't he with you?"

"We were wanting to ask that," Sho replied. It was to Gray that he spoke, with a blatant accusation. "He followed you into the Tower. What happened?"

"He…" Gray began, and found that he couldn't continue.

"Simon's dead," said Jellal abruptly. His face was expressionless, his voice without remorse; Gray realized what he was about to say an instant too late to stop him. "I killed him."

"You-!" Sho began, but his shout was drowned out by Erza's exclamation of horror.

"Jellal!" As if that one word could possibly convey all the betrayal she was feeling, or the pain which tore through her heart.

Nor was she the only one. But where she was paralyzed by shock, her friends were driven by fury; magic sparked through the room as the others prepared to channel their anger into violent revenge. Heart hammering, Gray threw himself bodily between Jellal and the rest of the room. "It was an accident!" He practically screamed the words; he tried to force an illusion of calm into his voice. "I was there. I saw what happened. Simon was just trying to protect you, Erza, and he got in the way. He refused to stand aside, but it was already too late for Jellal to stop his spell. It was just an accident. Jellal never meant for it to happen."

It was clear from their faces that none of Erza's friends believed him. Just as he thought he was actually going to have to fight to stop them from murdering Jellal then and there, the door behind them swung open once again.

A Rune Knight strode in, completely oblivious to the atmosphere in the room. "You three don't have permission to be down here," he snapped. "Get back up on deck."

They couldn't afford to get in trouble with the law. They went, reluctantly. The parting glance Millianna threw Jellal promised him hell if ever they met again, and then they were gone.

The soldier frowned at Gray and Jellal. "Don't cause any more trouble, and _don't_ fight on board the ship," he warned them, before leaving them alone once again.

"Jellal?" whispered Erza. "Is it true?"

"It is." Such great sadness, and such great love. Gray wondered how it were possible for a single human being to contain such strong emotions without bursting. "I'm sorry, Erza. I truly am."

"I know," she said quietly. "I have no right to judge you. If he was protecting me, then I am just as much to blame as you are." She rested her head gently against his chest. "Neither of us can change what has happened. Live, and make amends; let's go forward, and build a world Simon would be proud of."

Without realizing it, she was saying back to him the words he had given to her in order to save her. Even though she didn't remember, she held them in her heart. It was to that that his gratitude was directed, even if she did not know it. "Thank you, Erza."

 _He is not nearly as naïve as he is making himself out to be_ , Gray realized. _He understands the weight of every word that he is saying. He knows full well his love is a curse. And, despite all of that, he has chosen to stay by her side._

"Is it dawn?" Erza asked suddenly. Her attention was directed towards the porthole, as if she was seeing the outside world for the first time. Just above the horizon, the orange sun was hovering, shedding its firelight down upon the world.

"No," answered Gray. "The storm clouds drawn by Etherion have dissipated, and daylight has returned to the world once more, but the sun sinks, not rises."

There was a startling strength in Jellal's voice. "Dawn will come, though."

"Yes," Gray smiled. "It will."

* * *

Having decided that it was probably prudent to leave Jellal and Erza alone to talk in private, Gray returned to the main deck of the ship. After checking up on the other members of his guild and filling them all in on Erza's condition, he went to stand at the bow and watched as the harbour gradually drew into sight. The sun had moved on; though the horizon still blazed with fiery light, the stars were clearly visible – both the celestial globes watching over them from above and their terrestrial analogues, the torchlights which flickered into life along the coastline, guiding them home.

A cluster of lights swarmed around one of the piers in particular. As they approached, and the blur of illumination slowly resolved itself into many individual light lacrima, Gray imagined that each one was held by a Rune Knight come to arrest them, and felt a shiver of dread race along his spine. The feeling wasn't helped when Jellal, accompanied by two nervous guards, came to stand with him at the bow.

They needed to talk, but in private. Gray gave the Knights a pointed stare, and when they stood their ground, he remarked, "Look, if he wanted to run, you wouldn't be able to stop him. Though, of course, you'd be welcome to try."

Throwing dark looks at Jellal, the guards retreated to a safe distance.

"What did I just tell you about not threatening the Magic Council?" Jellal asked Gray dryly.

"Fairy Tail's doomed anyway. It hardly matters by this point."

"Oh, I don't know. After today, support for your guild might be stronger than you think." By way of explanation, he added, "Until very recently, I was _on_ the Council. I know how these things work. Not that I ever did anything to help Fairy Tail, but…"

"You were a different person back then," Gray finished.

With a small smile, Jellal looked ahead to the harbour, and the authorities that awaited them there. The breeze ruffled his hair fondly. Like Gray, he was shirtless, but not through choice – what remained of his bloodstained top had been removed and probably burnt by the medics who had treated him. The spare cloak he had thrown around his shoulders did not fully hide the fact that his torso was completely covered in bandages. The swaying of the lanterns as the ship slowly rocked back and forth set the shadows around him dancing.

Gray's next question was a blade of ice. "Why did you lie to Erza?"

If he had thought to provoke a reaction then he failed; the accusation hardly came as a surprise to Jellal, and he was steadfast in his decision. There was only one certainty in his life, and it was his desire to protect Erza. "I told her the truth about everything else. It's difficult enough for her to come to terms with everything she has done without that. She would never forgive herself. I won't condemn her to a life like that."

Gray said nothing. Jellal gave a sigh. "The Erza who is capable of murdering a friend is not the Erza we are trying to protect. I know you understand this; it's why we fought together, after all. This way, she has a chance to move on and become herself again. I will protect Erza's happiness. I shall carry the weight of her sins, as well as my own."

With a sharp glance towards Gray, he added, "Obviously I can't stop you from telling her the truth, but I would ask you to understand."

"I do understand. But… what about you?"

"It won't matter anyway, where I'm going." A humourless smile crossed his face. "Erza is my redemption. I will do everything in my power to protect her."

Before Gray could say anything, he heard someone shouting his name. He turned to see Erza emerging from the depths of the ship, flanked by two more Rune Knights. She waved to him and smiled hesitantly at Jellal, whose eyes lit up with adoration. As she joined them, Gray glanced surreptitiously around for Erza's friends. Fortunately, Sho and Wally were at the other end of the ship, preoccupied with trying to rescue Millianna, who had been cornered by three handsome young men – Gray assumed they were part of the Blue Pegasus team that the Knights said had also been in the Tower.

The three of them watched the distance to the shore slowly shrinking. As the crew began swarming around the ship's deck, preparing to guide them safely in, they were joined by Lucy, and then finally by Natsu, Happy and Gajeel. They said nothing, only stood in silent solidarity.

A gangplank was lowered and Rune Knights began to descend, joining the ranks of those already gathered along the docks. The platoon of soldiers formed a wide semicircle two or three men deep around the base of the walkway; yet more lined the roads leading away from the pier. They were armed to the teeth with spears and with magic. The message was clear.

With all eyes upon them, Jellal and Erza walked side by side towards the soldiers. Behind them came the other members of the Fairy Tail team, and then more Rune Knights. They stopped a respectful distance away from the soldiers, who watched them closely with wary mistrust, ready to act at the first sign of aggression.

Amidst that atmosphere of tension, Lahar stepped forwards, having raced to the port from Era in order to deliver the Council's verdict. "I am Lahar, Captain of the 4th Custody Enforcement Unit," he began. "For the crimes of attempting to resurrect Zeref and bring about the destruction of society as we know it, as well as the use of forbidden magic and attempting to kill mages acting on behalf of the Magic Council, I am here to arrest Erza Scarlet."

There was a stunned silence. "Wait, what?" Jellal demanded, shocked.

Anger flashed in Lahar's eyes. "You heard me. The entire Magic Council saw what happened during that final battle. We have permission to use force if you resist, Erza of Fairy Tail."

"I won't resist," she told him quietly.

"Erza!" Jellal exclaimed.

"No, it's alright." She stepped forwards, her head held high. "I don't remember anything that happened in the Tower, but I know in my heart that I caused a lot of pain to the people I care about. I have to own up to that. So, I'll go with you. It's okay-"

Gray caught her wrist. "It's not okay."

Erza tried to pull her arm free, but his grip was like iron. "Let me go, Gray."

"I won't. We're all going back to the guild together, Erza."

"Thank you, Gray," she smiled at him. "But it's impossible."

"Then what was all this _for?_ " he howled in anguish. "What were we even fighting for, if we can't all go home together? What the hell was the point?"

Her gaze softened. "The point was to save everyone, Gray. Even me. Thank you for everything that you have done, but now I have to go."

"Come along, Erza," Lahar ordered impatiently.

She nodded and tried to go to him, only this time Gray placed himself bodily in front of her. "I will not accept this ending," he declared, with frigid air swirling around his fists. "I will not lose Erza again. If you want her, you'll have to go through me."

Immediately there was a ring of spears levelled at his head. Rune Knights everywhere began forming magic seals, ready to fight. Lahar hastily raised a hand to stop them, wanting to avoid conflict if possible. "Enough of this."

"Gray, please stop," Erza begged.

"No. I refuse to go back to a Fairy Tail without you in it."

"Gray's right," Natsu added. "For once." He and his rival stood side by side, forming a defensive wall between Erza and the Council's soldiers. After everything they had seen already that day, staring down a small army of law enforcers was nothing. "The only thing you should be arresting is the demon thing that was forcing Erza to act as she did, which the those three and Erza erased from existence at the top of the Tower!"

"Don't interfere!" Lahar snapped. "The law must be carried out! Justice will be done!"

"There is no justice here!" Natsu yelled back. "Let Erza go already!"

Lucy joined the rest of her team, with Happy at her side. Though visibly intimidated by the sheer number of enemies ranged against them, she refused to back down. "You can't hold Erza responsible for anything that happened here today! It wasn't her fault!"

A note of panic entered Lahar's voice. "Don't try to resist arrest! We _will_ use force if necessary!"

Though he was in no state to fight, Gajeel joined the group. "After everything we've been through to bring her home safely, we're _not_ letting you have Erza," the Dragon Slayer growled.

Levy nodded. "We will always fight to protect our friends, no matter who our opponents are. We won't back down!"

"Are you really going to let them fight the Magic Council?" Freed asked quietly, glancing at Laxus – only to find that Fairy Tail's Master was no longer at his side, but stood next to Natsu.

Laxus's hands were in his pockets, but electricity crackled all over his body. "I don't want to be Master of a guild that doesn't protect each and every one of its members," he remarked coolly. Smiling, Freed drew his sword and went to stand at Erza's side.

Flustered, Lahar declared, "This is your final warning, Fairy Tail! If you continue on this path, we will have no choice but to declare you a Dark Guild and the enemy of the Council!"

Laxus just laughed. "Fairy Tail is screwed anyway. At least this way we can go out doing what we do best-"

"Destroying things!" Natsu grinned.

Laxus glanced at him. "Well, I was going to say 'protecting the people we care about'…"

"Oh," said Natsu. He seemed almost disappointed.

"…But I see no reason why we can't do both." Laxus shot Lahar a fierce grin; the excitement and determination of the Fairy Tail team was contagious. "Well? What are you waiting for? We're right here!"

"Everyone, stop it," Erza pleaded. "I don't want to cause any more trouble for you, so please, just let me go-"

"Erza," Jellal said quietly; firmly. "How can you even think about giving up, when you are surrounded by people so determined that you stay?"

"But I don't understand! I don't deserve any of this-"

He just smiled. "That's not true at all. Just look around you. Erza, you are loved."

And she couldn't speak for tears – tears of love and happiness, for the miracle that was Fairy Tail.

"Putting aside the fact that you'd need ten times as many men before you could even _think_ about taking away someone that we care about," Laxus began coolly, "Is this really what you believe is right?"

He and Lahar stared at each other. Then, to everyone's surprise, the Knight gave a sigh. "No," he admitted. "I do not believe Erza should be held responsible for what happened. I find it hard to accept that someone who is loved so much by her friends would have acted as she did out of her own volition, and while amnesia is not a valid defence in a court of law, the laws surrounding demonic possession and mind-control magic are far less clear-cut."

"But…" Erza floundered. "If I hadn't been weak… If I hadn't let it get hold of me-"

"Who can say for certain how any of us would react in a situation like that?" Lahar asked, unhappily. "No, your guild is right. I don't like it, but after seeing the loyalty the people you hurt still have for you, I find that I cannot, with a clear conscience, arrest you."

Natsu and Gray exchanged triumphant looks. Erza was speechless. Murmurs of relief ran around the circle of Rune Knights at the fact that they weren't going to have to fight these crazy mages after all. They slowly backed away, allowing the Fairy Tail team to relax slightly.

"I do not have the authority to overturn the Magic Council's decision to arrest you, so I am sure you'll be hearing their final judgement on this matter shortly. For the time being, return to your guild."

At Lahar's words, the soldiers retreated for good. Fairy Tail began to celebrate, which mostly involved everyone piling on top of a helpless Erza with shouts of glee. Lahar watched them with no small amount of exasperation. He was by no means certain that his impulsive decision was the right one, but seeing how joyous they were made him feel a little more confident. After all, as much as he hated to admit it, Fairy Tail were the heroes of the day, and they deserved what little happiness they could get after what they had been through. "This time, I'm definitely going to be demoted," he muttered to himself, setting off after his men.

Then a voice called out his name, and he froze. Turning, he saw Jellal running towards him, and a look of pure fury shot across his face. A moment later, he was as composed as usual; each word he spoke was a scathing blow. "Don't you dare assume familiarity with me, Siegrain or Jellal or whoever the hell you are."

Jellal took the verbal attack in his stride; at the very least, he deserved it, and there were far more important things to discuss. "Aren't you going to arrest me?" he demanded.

"Believe me, there is nothing that would give me more pleasure. My orders on that matter, however, were very clear indeed. No one can deny that the person who freed Erza from the force possessing her, thus preventing potentially one of the worst crises this Council has ever had to face, was you. Thus the Council, in their _infinite_ wisdom-" with the rare sarcasm in his voice making it clear exactly where he thought they should stick said wisdom "-have declared you a free man."

Jellal shook his head in bewilderment. "I don't understand! That doesn't change what I did in the past. I was the one who caused the crisis in the first place! I infiltrated the Council – I built the R-System!"

"You don't need to tell _me_ that!" Lahar snapped back. "One good deed is not sufficient to counterbalance a lifetime of evil." His gaze softened slightly as he glanced over to where Erza was desperately trying to free herself from the embrace of her fellow guild mages. "Just as one wrong decision cannot erase a lifetime spent trying to do the right thing. However, we got a rather fascinating confession out of Ultear."

Jellal's gaze sharpened. "Ultear?"

"Indeed. I think you'd find it quite interesting, if your pride will allow you to listen all the way through to the end. Personal feelings aside, I can hardly condemn your actions in light of that… well, not without also dooming Erza. Besides, with that confession and a half-decent lawyer, the Council knows there's no way you would be found guilty in a court of law. It would merely be a waste of our time and tax payers' money. The best we can do in these circumstances is sweep everything aside and pray that your actions in the Tower today really are proof that you are a changed man."

Even so, Jellal seemed troubled; unwilling, or perhaps simply unable, to believe this turn of events. "But…" A sudden thought occurred to him, and he fumbled for the medallion of the Ten Wizard Saints he had stowed in his pocket for safe-keeping. "At the very least, you'll be wanting this back."

Lahar looked from the medallion back to Jellal, and gritted his teeth in anger. "You're just mocking me now, aren't you?"

"I don't understand," said Jellal, and he really didn't. "You're not telling me to keep it, surely?"

"It's not as if I agree with their decision. In fact, in all my years serving the Council, it's probably the stupidest thing I have ever heard them say. However… the Council is in a difficult position right now. Even with the best outcome possible, the Tower of Heaven incident has been a PR nightmare, to say the least. We need to appear strong and unified right now if we're going to survive the fallout. To those who saw the final battle – half the Rune Knights in Era, not to mention all the other guilds Blue Pegasus will have spread the news to by now – you're a hero, and that could easily become a problem for us."

He gave a sigh of resignation. "Retake the oath to serve the Council and the magical world. This is your chance to prove that you really have changed. At least this way we can keep tabs on you. Besides, if we can't send you to prison, the least we can do is make use of your powers for the good of everyone. Maybe it will go some way towards undoing all the damage you've done."

"I understand. I shall do just that."

"There is one condition, though. Someone has to take responsibility for you."

"Responsibility?" Jellal echoed, mystified.

"You can't continue working for the Council after what you've done, so if you want to remain a practising mage, you'll have to join a legal guild. If any of them will take you, they'll be accountable for your actions as a mage from now on."

A small smile. "I see."

He didn't get much further than that, because Gray and Natsu, who had been lurking nearby and listening to the entire conversation, decided to intrude. Gray threw his arm around Jellal's shoulders, while Natsu declared forcefully, "He'll be joining Fairy Tail, of course."

Jellal gave Lahar an apologetic shrug, who closed his eyes in despair. "I told them you would say that, but did they listen?"

Muttering crossly under his breath, he tried to walk away again, only to be stopped by Jellal's anxious protests. Lahar tried with difficulty to restrain his annoyance. _What must this man have gone through to make him physically incapable of believing anything good can happen to him?_ he wondered, and found to his surprise that he didn't hate Jellal quite as much as he thought he did.

"Look, do you _want_ to be arrested?" Lahar asked impatiently. "Because at the rate you're going, I could definitely get you for wasting law enforcement time. Are you sure that you wouldn't rather spend the rest of your life in a guild, at Erza's side?"

Jellal gave in. "Thank you." On impulse, he added, "It's unlike you to let your personal feelings get in the way of upholding the law, Lahar."

"I met an unusual young woman today. She did something utterly illogical, unthinkably reckless, and completely illegal… and in doing so, she saved not only the reputation of the Magic Council, but also countless innocent lives. The law is important, but it isn't always right. If we are to govern and guide humans, we must be human too."

With a genuine smile, Jellal remarked, "Well said, I think."

"Don't make us regret this decision," Lahar warned him. "If we meet again, I expect it to be at some sort of awards ceremony celebrating all the good you've been doing in service of the Magic Council."

"Yeah." As the Rune Knight walked away, Jellal called after him, "Take care of yourself, Lahar." He wasn't expecting a response and he didn't receive one, but he found himself smiling anyway.

"Well, if you've quite finished trying to get yourself arrested," Gray said dryly, dragging him back to the real world, "You have a guild to officially join and a whole load of new people to meet. Come on. We'll show you how Fairy Tail celebrates a victory!"

* * *

There was no peace for the wicked. The Tower of Heaven incident may have been resolved, but there in that dark room, lit only by guttering candles, Laxus was fighting the most difficult battle of his life. He glared at his opponent across the desk. His fist clenched. A vein pulsed in his forehead.

Then his shoulders sagged and he gave up, banging his head repeatedly against the desk. "Okay, okay! I surrender! I can't _do_ this!"

An amused voice came from behind him. "Laxus, are you talking to your paperwork?"

Laxus sat bolt upright in shock. "What? No!" He glared at Mira for sneaking up on him. "I was just… You know…" At the sight of her raised eyebrows, he sighed and gave up. Gesturing at the enormous piles of paper on the desk in front of him, he muttered, "I swear the old man never did anything like this."

"He didn't," Mira informed him, with a smile. "Your grandfather had a habit of burning letters from the Council without opening them. For the past year or so, I've been intercepting all the guild's post and dealing with it properly."

"Then you could-"

She shot him down with that same innocent smile. "You'll have to learn how to do it yourself at some point, Laxus. It might as well be now."

Muttering something unintelligible, he picked up the pen he had been using, tapped it against the desk, and then put it down again. "I didn't know you were back."

"I just arrived. The Council finally let Makarov and I go, but he stayed behind to discuss something with Yajima, so I caught the first train back to Magnolia on my own. Lucy told me that the celebrations ended a while ago, though, so I was surprised to find you still in the guildhall."

"I had things to do."

"Well, seeing you act as a responsible adult certainly makes a change." Before he could growl a retort, she deftly changed the subject. "That reminds me. I have a letter for you from the Magic Council. It's important, so they asked me to deliver it in person."

Laxus took the envelope she handed him. "If it's about their offer to write off all Fairy Tail's debts, then I already know. And I'd sooner trust Natsu with a job to deliver priceless crystal glasses than I would any offer like that from the Council."

"It's simple politics, Laxus," she told him tiredly. "Fairy Tail are the heroes of the day. Not only did we stop the R-System and prevent the resurrection of Zeref, but we also uncovered and captured the traitor in the heart of the Council itself. Going ahead with closing us down after we pointed out the villain in their midst would be the height of madness. The Magic Council needs to be seen to be supporting us right now if it wants to retain any credibility at all. You can trust their offer. They might be using us as propaganda, but it's certainly not malicious."

Mira could see the stubbornness in the firm set of his jaw. He was unwilling to accept help from anyone, let alone from the organization he still saw as his enemy; in that respect, he was infuriatingly like his grandfather. Forcing back a smile, she tried to lecture him convincingly. "We don't really have a choice in the matter. If we don't take them up on their offer, we're done for. There's not just the fine to the Council to think of – we owe massive debts for the restoration of the city and our guildhall. Face it, Laxus, at this rate it's not dark mages or Zeref's demons that will be the end of Fairy Tail – it'll be the bailiffs."

"I know, I know," he conceded unhappily.

"You know, I wonder if we could petition the Magic Council to add some community service onto Ultear's prison sentence. With her magic, it would take no time at all the fix the city." Seeing the look Laxus threw her, she added hurriedly, "That's not what the letter is about, though."

"You already know what it is, don't you?"

"I was there when they made the decision. Don't misunderstand, though – I had nothing to do with it."

Frowning, Laxus opened the letter and scanned through its contents. Mira hadn't anticipated quite how aggressive his reaction would be; as a look of sheer hatred flashed in his eyes, she couldn't help taking a step back. He slammed his fist down on the antique desk with enough force to send cracks running through the wood. "I will _not_ become a pawn of the Council!"

With that furious gaze directed towards her, she couldn't help but become defensive. "Is that how you're going to perceive this? Is that what you believe your grandfather is?"

"They obviously just want to control Fairy Tail!"

"Yes, they want to feel like they have some control over Fairy Tail, of course they do! But they also know that it won't make any more difference with you than it ever did with Makarov; they're not stupid! They're acknowledging you, and giving you some political leverage so that you can deal with them and they with you in a way that avoids physical conflict and keeps Fairy Tail on the right side of the law. Strengthening the bonds between the Council and our guild – _that's_ what this is about."

Laxus seemed more bewildered than angry at her outburst, for which she was glad. "Why are you defending them? They're our enemy!"

"Is that really how you see the Council, Laxus?"

"Is that really _not_ how you see them?"

To his surprise, rather than lecturing him again for being ignorant of politics, it seemed as though a new sadness entered her eyes. A pang of guilt shot through him.

Mira answered his unasked question. "The thing is, Laxus… they've asked me to stay on and join the Magic Council."

"And you're going to turn them down, right?" he replied instantly, alarmed.

She just shook her head. "I was undecided until a few minutes ago, but now I know for sure that I have to go."

"But _why?_ " Words were incapable of summing up that horror; that sheer disbelief. "Mira, the Magic Council is corrupt-"

"Yes!" she shouted suddenly. "You're right, Laxus, the Council _is_ corrupt! One of its members is a traitor, and another never even existed to begin with. Yajima is pushing ahead with his decision to retire in the next few days – there's talk that the Chairman himself won't return, even after he recovers from his illness. Don't you see, Laxus? There will never be a better time to reform the Council than right now! Yes, the Council is corrupt – so what, we should just sit idly by and let it stay that way? Change doesn't happen on its own; it happens because the people who are willing to fight for it don't give up!"

Mira sighed, smiling to herself even though she knew Laxus would never understand. "Since Lisanna's death, I've been so useless. I was stuck with this stupid idea that unless I became able to use magic again, like Elfman did, I couldn't _do_ anything in this world – that I was good for nothing but working behind the bar and helping out with the organization of the guild. But, the thing is… Over the past few days, I've come to realize that I don't need magic to make a difference. I've finally found something that I can do, and that's why I've made my decision. I'm going to fight for stronger bonds between the guilds and the Council. So much of this incident could have been avoided if we'd just worked together from the start. I want to ensure that if something like this happens again, the Council knows it can rely on its guilds to deal with the situation and the guilds know they can count on the Council to back them up. That's why I've got to go.

"If you don't want to accept their offer for personal reasons, then that's fine. It's your choice, after all. But don't let your reason for refusing them be hatred of the Magic Council. Just give me a few months, and I swear – I will help build a Council that you can be proud to support!"

Laxus was silent for a long time. Even though she had made up her mind, it didn't change the sorrow that raced through her at his unwillingness to understand. His stubborn disapproval hurt a lot more than she wanted to let on.

She reached for something to change the subject to and fell back on something she had meant to say earlier. "Oh, and about that offer. I'm not trying to blackmail you or anything; I'm just pointing this out because you probably wouldn't notice otherwise - but the alternative to accepting might end up being a jail sentence."

"What? Why?"

"Well, in case you've forgotten, only a few hours ago you did threaten to blow up Etherion and murder the entire Council."

"Oh, yeah. I did do that, didn't I?"

Mira had to laugh at that. "You certainly did. They might struggle to justify overlooking that incident if you throw this offer back in their faces." Then she sobered as a more sombre thought crossed her mind. She thought they were close enough now that he wouldn't mind if she asked. "Say, Laxus. Would you really have done it?" At his look of confusion, she clarified, "Destroyed Etherion, I mean."

"Oh, that." He grinned; Mira wasn't sure she could remember the last time she had seen him looking so pleased with himself, and it was wonderful. "That was a total bluff. I couldn't have done that even if I had wanted to."

" _What?_ "

It was his turn to laugh. "Couldn't you feel the amount of power that thing contained? I could have thrown everything I had at it, and it would just have shrugged it off like it was nothing. I'm sure Etherion _is_ unstable, but you'd have to hit it with far more magic power than any single person can possibly possess to trigger any response from it. I suppose this is one of those rare occasions where we should be glad that the people in charge of the highly advanced, incredibly destructive magical technology have no understanding whatsoever of how it works."

"You genuinely bluffed the Magic Council into disarming their weapon of mass destruction? Somehow, Laxus, I'm even more impressed."

"I never thought our reputation for being the most destructive guild in the land would play to our advantage like that," he remarked. "Though, I imagine I'll have to work harder to keep our mages all in line from now on, if I don't want you constantly on my case."

Mira's eyes widened. "Then you-"

"If it's what you want, then I'm not going to stop you," he said gruffly.

"I think it's what I have to do." Her voice was steady; it was her smile that faltered. "I'll have to leave the guild, though."

"No." Quick as a flash, he reached out and grabbed her wrist. Startled by the sudden intensity in his eyes, she found herself unable to speak. He continued firmly, "Whether you have the guild mark or not is irrelevant. Wherever you go, whatever you choose to do, you will always be Mira of Fairy Tail."

As if suddenly realizing what he was doing, he released her hand hastily and turned his back to her, dragging a stack of papers towards him in an attempt to cover his embarrassment. "I guess I'll be doing the paperwork on my own from now on, then."

"I'll miss you too, Laxus," she said softly, and left the room.

* * *

The Magic Council threw a party. To be quite frank, it was a disappointment. Compared to the wild and raucous celebrations for which Fairy Tail was famous, it hardly even deserved the name.

They went anyway. They were in no position to be turning down free food.

Nor did the fact that this was Fairy Tail's third party in as many days dissuade them from attending. After all, they had a lot to celebrate. There was Erza's safe return, along with the Council's official decision to follow Lahar's lead and drop the charges against her. Then there was the resolution of the Tower of Heaven incident and the official addition of Gajeel and Jellal to their guild, not to mention their final triumph over the Changeling curse which had plagued their guild for so long. And they had never really celebrated Laxus becoming their new Master either – or the beginning of what they all felt certain would be a new golden age for Fairy Tail.

During the festivities, the Council held the ceremony for the appointment of new Wizard Saints. The title that had belonged to Siegrain was formally passed to Jellal. It had been by no means a unanimous decision, and Jellal was well aware of the mood in the room, and the resentment many felt towards him. The opinions of others, however, would not stop him from pursuing the path of redemption he had chosen. He had tactfully decided to wear casual clothes rather than the formalwear he would have attended such events in when he was acting as Siegrain; even so, he somehow still appeared more authoritative and at ease than the man stood next to him.

Laxus was wearing a suit, and he looked really unhappy about it. Being the centre of attention in such a formal setting was a source of great discomfort for him. Seeing him looking so out of place on that makeshift stage only made Mira more surprised that he had taken her advice and accepted the Council's offer. The assembled members of Fairy Tail went wild as their new Master was officially appointed as one of the Ten Wizard Saints, given the position formerly held by Phantom Lord's Master Jose before the guild war incident. It did make sense; after all, Laxus had been the one who had defeated Jose in the first place. Still, seeing their guild given so much recognition from the Council came as a surprise to Fairy Tail – well, to everyone except Mira and Makarov, who shared proud and knowing smiles.

At some point during the gathering, the members of the Council took Mira, Makarov, Laxus and Jellal aside and played to them the recording of Ultear's confession. It was Mira's second time hearing her speak, since she and Makarov had been there in person the first time, and she found it no less troubling this time round.

Like all good villains who had devoted their lives to overly-complicated schemes, Ultear had been more than happy to talk. It had begun eight years ago, during the uprising at the Tower of Heaven. She had infiltrated the building and spoken to Jellal while he was a prisoner, pretending to be the voice of Zeref's ghost. Her words had awakened the darkness within him and allowed an evil entity of no small power, most likely a demon of some kind, to slowly take over his mind. The two of them had used him to construct the R-System. They had lied to him about its purpose – it wasn't possible to use the Tower to resurrect Zeref. They needed it for one reason and one reason only: to destroy the Magic Council.

Somewhere along the way, Ultear had appeared before Jellal, posing as a talented, if impressionable, young mage. As she had anticipated, he had sought to use her, even going as far as to ensure she was appointed to the Council at the same time he was. All the while, she was the one using him. Once the Tower was ready, Jellal would trick the Council into firing Etherion, thus activating the Tower. The repercussions would be immense: if the Council somehow avoided being dissolved after making such a catastrophic mistake, it would certainly be broken and thrown into disarray, leaving the authority of the magical world in tatters and shaking the stability of the government to its very core. Jellal would take the fall for it, and she would walk free.

The one problem had arisen when Jellal had been reunited with Erza, and rebelled against the demon's will. It would all be for nothing if he backed out before they had got the Council to use Etherion. Fortunately for them, a moment of madness had left Erza vulnerable, and the creature of darkness had been able to use her as its new host, in return for using its magic to reconstruct her old body. Since it had been only through the use of the dark powers it had granted Jellal that the latter had been able to maintain appearances with the Council anyway, it had been a trivial matter for the demon and Ultear to jointly maintain the Thought Projection of Siegrain for a short period of time. If it hadn't been for Fairy Tail's interference in the Council, and Jellal's defeat of the being possessing Erza, the plan would have been perfect.

Ultear mocked the Council, and held nothing but scorn towards Jellal, whom she had casually manipulated and had planned to dispose of without a second thought. Mira had worried for Jellal to hear her story, but he had listened stoically through to the end. He had known – or at least guessed – most of it anyway, she realized.

She had asked him about it afterwards, concerned. "There is a reason why Erza has no memory of anything she did while she was being controlled, and yet I remember everything," he had told her calmly. "For the most part, it was forcing her to act against her will. That was not the case for me. I hated the world, and sought true freedom through power and destruction; I carried out that being's desires freely. The fact that I was deceived does not alleviate my guilt."

Then, to her surprise, he had smiled. "But perhaps it does strengthen my resolve to walk along this path that I myself have chosen." And she thought that more than anyone else, he belonged in Fairy Tail.

Much of what Ultear had said troubled the Council, and Mira shared their concerns. Though she had been more than happy to speak about her failed scheme, and had evidently taken a great deal of pleasure in pointing out the Council's failure to spot that two of its members had been traitors from the very beginning, she had told them very little that would be useful going forward. When it came to discussing motives, she was extremely careful with her words, and was acutely – infuriatingly – aware of every trick they used to try and get information out of her.

There were many alarming factors about her story. To begin with, the whole affair had started eight years ago, when Ultear herself was barely more than a child. It was inconceivable that everything had been her plan from the start, let alone that she had acted without help. Besides, what kind of girl just happened to be working alongside an extremely powerful creature of darkness? There was no doubt that she had influential patrons, and she hadn't given them a single clue to go on in working out who the true villains were.

Besides, the matter of her motive was a shaky one. She spoke of destroying the Magic Council from within, but to what end? Was anarchy her goal, or was it merely a distraction? It was clear that the Council had powerful enemies; ones they could no longer afford to ignore. A Council undergoing reform was a fragile thing, but Mira knew it had the potential to become far stronger than it had ever been. Seeking out those who threatened to destroy it and the world it protected would take top priority in the future.

One thing was certain: from now on, Fairy Tail and the Magic Council would be going forward with both eyes open.

* * *

As Jellal had promised, dawn came in the end.

For Mira, it corresponded to the morning of the guild's first normal working day in what seemed like forever. The sun was already high in the sky as she approached the guildhall. The building site had become once again a hive of activity, thanks in no small part to the new state of the guild's finances allowing them to actually hire in some professionals to help. No one, however, was taking this as an excuse to sit back and let other people do the work. The sense of pride and unity was overwhelming as mages rushed back and forth in search of ways to help.

Laxus, having been firmly lectured by Freed about not going out on any jobs until he had properly recovered from his injuries, had his hands full trying to coordinate the external contractors and his own overenthusiastic guild, while also being constantly called upon to check this or help with that or carry something over there. By contrast, Makarov was having a whale of a time watching his grandson being run ragged. He was making the most of his retirement: sipping contentedly from a tankard despite the time of day, chatting with the other guild members, shouting deliberately unhelpful advice to Laxus, and occasionally assisting with the organization when his grandson wasn't looking.

Elsewhere, preparations were well underway for the postponed Fantasia Parade, which had been rescheduled for the following week. For those who weren't so adept when it came to the creative arts, guild work had resumed as normal. Levy and Gajeel had gone on a job together, much to everyone's surprise – and the envy of Jet and Droy, who even now were complaining about it to anyone who would listen. Freed was staying in the guild to make sure Laxus kept his promise and didn't overexert himself. This hadn't stopped the remaining members of the Raijinshuu from working, however. Despite their notoriety for isolating themselves from the rest of the guild, Evergreen and Bickslow had somehow roped Cana and Elfman into standing in for their missing member. Not that this was necessarily to their advantage, of course. In fact, from the exasperated looks Cana and Bickslow were sharing, they were regretting this partnership already. Mira could still hear Elfman and Evergreen arguing long after the team had disappeared down the road.

Macao had finally given in to his son's demands, and allowed Romeo to accompany Alzack and Bisca on a job, under the strict assurance that they weren't allowed to do anything dangerous. Now he alternated between bragging about how Romeo was growing up and panicking for his son's safety, until Wakaba, fed up, dragged him out on a job to take his mind off the situation. Since this was the first time the two of them had actually gone out together to do any work in as long as anyone in the guild could remember, it immediately prompted their alarmed friends to put together a rescue party and head out after them.

Even Mystogan returned to the guild briefly, in order to drop off a large bag of jewels he had earned in return for a difficult job. Though he stuck to the shadows to avoid being noticed, and his face was completely concealed as usual, Mira thought that not putting everyone in the guild to sleep when he arrived was a big step forwards for him – not to mention a lot safer, given how half the guildhall was currently an active building site.

To her amazement, he beckoned to her from the shadows, and the two of them even had a brief whispered conversation. He asked after Erza and Laxus, and she was more than happy to fill him in on the events of the past few days. At the very least, he seemed pleased that the guild was no longer in trouble, financially or otherwise. If the guild didn't need him urgently, he told her, then he would head out on another of his usual long missions, and would be gone for quite some time. Though she knew she couldn't change his mind, she told him he would always be welcome in the guild and should come by more often. She could have sworn that he smiled as he walked away.

 _And of course,_ Mira reflected, as she neared the centre of the guild, _some things just don't change_.

In front of the Request Board, Natsu and Gray were squabbling over something trivial. She had no idea how it had started – though it wasn't as if those two ever needed a reason to fight, was it? Fortunately, before things could get out of hand, Erza stepped up and smacked their heads together. While they apologized repeatedly on their knees, she selected a mission from the board and nodded approvingly.

Fairy Tail's strongest team was finally back in action – along with the temporary addition of Jellal to their ranks. As he had never been in a guild before, Erza had insisted that he accompany them on their first mission in order to learn the ropes – something he hadn't complained about, though Mira was sure there were better role models in the guild somewhere. Probably.

Even as she watched, she saw a bemused Jellal asking Lucy and Happy if this was normal behaviour for their team, to which they both gave a dejected, "Aye…"

They waved to Mira as they headed out, and she waved back, her heart filled with a sudden lightness. Things were finally getting back to normal.

No – they were better than that, weren't they? She couldn't remember the last time being in the guild had made her so happy. Everyone was finally coming together, breaking down old boundaries and forming new friendships. The bonds between the guild's members had never been stronger. Her heart ached with pride and with love.

She had yet to tell anyone but Laxus that she was going to leave the guild. She was dreading having to say goodbye. But she also knew that the guild would get along just fine without her, and besides, this was something that she had to do. There were enemies out there, powerful foes with neither names nor faces, and the guilds and the Council would have to work more closely together than ever before in order to stand against them.

Even so, she wasn't worried. Fairy Tail had fallen once, and risen again magnificently. Now, they stood on the brink of a new era. _Let the Dark Guilds come_ , she thought fiercely. _Let the demons do their worst. When Fairy Tail stands together, we have nothing to fear._

* * *

 ** _A/N:_** _Close enough? Close enough. There was always going to be a clash between my original goal of "I want this story to end right where the Oracion Seis arc picks up in canon" and "I actually want a conclusion for my story that makes sense and resolves all the plot elements". Hopefully this final chapter is an acceptable compromise! It's not too difficult to come up with ways in which the following arcs would play out more or less as they do in the original, anyway... but that's another story, and not one that I'm writing. Changeling has been resolved and my three arcs are up, which means..._

 _I'M DONE! YAY! The story is over! Happy endings all around. Especially for me. After twenty-five weeks, my free time has returned to me! Victory! And I guess all that remains is for me to say thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story through to the end! Whether you've sent me a supportive message, or made me defend/think about choices I'd made, or just silently kept up with whatever I've been writing, thank you for making writing and uploading this something worth doing! I really hope you enjoyed the story, and thank you for reading! ~CS_


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